Southern hospitality

Of all things, we were reminded of the movie "Patton" last week. Late in the film, an American general is surrounded by Germans who tell him to just stop fighting and surrender. Gen. Anthony MacAuliffe’s one word reply was, "Nuts!" Upon hearing of this this, Patton’s response, "I think a man that eloquent deserves to be rescued, don't you?"
We felt the same way while watching one New Orleans evacuee on TV late last week. The man had just arrived in Houston with his family only to be told there was no more room in the Astrodome. The cable news interviewer pushed and prodded the man to see how this was sitting with him. He first said that he was just glad to be somewhere else besides the Superdome. When asked what he would do next, the man responded, "I guess get a newspaper and find a job."
Yes. A man that eloquent deserves to be rescued and supported. As do thousands like him.
The help is starting in communities across the country. Here in Anniston, Ala., former military base housing will be used to house Katrina evacuees, perhaps as many as 1,000. To get that done a massive cleanup around facilities at Fort McClellan has started. A first step was to clean up the grounds around the residences. Local leaders sent out the call: Come out to the fort on Labor Day equipped with yard tools and a ready-to-work attitude. Officials estimate 2,000 people, including your humble blogger who has a pair of matching blisters on his thumbs, showed up to rake, cut, shovel, mow and haul.
"Folks, I cannot believe what you have done here in the past couple of days," Gov. Bob Riley, R-Ala., said after touring the facility on Monday afternoon. "If there has ever been a Labor Day of Love, today is it."
This is Southern hospitality at its finest. The same applies to hundreds of other examples across the region.