Halfway through the Katrina disaster tour the bus pulled into Audubon Park for a rest stop. I joined my fellow tourists wandering into a concession area for hot dogs and ice cream. I pondered the menu and decided I wasn't all that hungry after witnessing some gruesome sights. Seeing wrecked homes and hearing the stories of wrecked lives was more than a little unsettling. I stepped outside into spring air and my cell phone rang.
I've been fired.
What? What do you mean?
They got an Oscar-winner to replace me.
What? How can they do this?
The producer said it wasn't personal because I hadn't done any work yet. He just couldn't turn down a big name when the opportunity presented itself.
The unspoken inkling had revealed itself. The breeze we felt was windy.
How will this affect us?
We were in April of 2009, in Year Two of a worldwide recession that showed no signs of abating. In this climate, showbiz also floundered. We had read regular accounts of film and TV crews sitting on their couches worrying how to pay mortgage or rent and health insurance. California was especially hard hit by thousands of home foreclosures, runaway production and a failed banking system.
Standing in a New Orleans park that afternoon and hearing my husband's depressed voice dispersed my logical thinking. I only wanted to be with him, hug him and reassure him. My other half was hurting and I was far away.
I lumbered back up the steps of the bus and knew that, as tragedies go, ours was small compared to the homes and lives lost outside my grimy bus window...but lost is lost.
I had one more day in New Orleans before I'd be on a plane and back home with my husband.
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