A chill through the spine.

Was reading the newspaper this morning. It was sunny out side with a mild chill. One of the blessings of California. As I turned my second page, this news caught my attention. A 93 year old veteran froze to death. A frantic search online gave all the chilling details. The whole scene in Kentucky and Arkansas looks like a part of "Day After Tomorrow", the movie that portrays a steady freezing of America.

Apparently this veteran had money, but must have had slipping memory. His electricity bills had about $1000 unpaid balance over past 4 months, so the local Bay City Municipal electricity worker had installed a meter that shuts off electricity after certain usage. And this poor soul had no clue. How monstrous can that be??????? I am at a loss of words to explain the inhuman treatment toward this aged veteran. If they look into his billing history he had never had any late payments or defaults. he was living alone with no children and wife being passed away two years earlier. I am completely sad. Strangely I think of people back home in India - there too the neighborly, humane attitude is slowly dying if not already dead. So is it the whole world becoming a totally selfish, inhuman society?

On top of this a news article suggested people in those parts of US with heavy snow and snow storm (over a million) might have to live with no power until mid February. Oh my God, it hurts even to imagine. I remember way back in 2002, we had a power outage for about 3 or 4 hours. I was pregnant with my first child. We ha no food to eat and i still shudder to remember my husband frantically driving through the rain looking for food for me. Now How many moms are pregnant there? how many infants need warm milk or simply water to drnk? how many elderly need heat to keep warm? Oh to think of all the basic necessities...How ever can this happen? We call America the most advanced nation in the world.

Inspite of many of the states going bankrupt, we are able to offer $40,000 for civilians killed in Afghanistan. How are we going to handle this dire life and death situation caused by extreme weather conditions? I wish the governemnt makes plans and acts immediately to bring relief to the people in pain and cold.