The local news here in NC just showed US tourists checking in hotels in Cancun

[JanMichael]

Now.

How much sympathy am I supposed to feel for those complete stupid jackasses? Really. How much.

One guy responded to the reporter in a manly, "I am an AMERICAN and don't have to take this attitude" with something about "This isn't going to ruin our vacation!"

He had a child with him.

Tell me. How much sympathy do I have to pretend to have? Tell me in advance, please. What is politically correct now in this situation?

[rodeodance]

1. thank god -as I saw the vast majority in lines at the airport trying to get out.

[ElizabethDC]

2. They just showed it on NBC Nightly News, too

one woman was like, "we don't have hurricanes where I'm from, so it's kind of hard for me to believe it's coming." I'm like, you don't have to live through a hurricane to know that it's bad!

(Edited for grammar)

[bear425]

3. Does she come from a place that doesn't have tv?

What an idiot.

[Mutineer]

4. I saw the same NBC report. And the same dumb woman.

I guess she's forgotten all about the damage that Katrina did huh? Sadly, too many people in this country don't bother to watch television news. They don't have a clue. How the hell do you think W got elected 2x? (okay, other than voter fraud)?

And who wil be the first people screaming for help when the hurricane hits Mexico? These same dumb, uninformed people.

[JanMichael]

7. I wish Mexico didn't have to offer those clowns ANY of their

emergency resources.

Seriously. Screw them.

[mmonk]

25. I do and I could tell these people.

I lost seven trees (one of them found my neighbor's garage), a fence, the box end encasement and soffits on one side of my roof with water coming in through the attic. And I was lucky.

[Bluebear]

5. What does this have to do with 'politically correct'?

[JanMichael]

9. When Katrina hit, I made some nasty comments about

guests in those 4 and 5 star hotels in the French Quarter. The ones who COULD have left. CHOSE not to. On purpose. The staff at the hotel were forced to stay and babysit their priviledged asses.

I got slammed.

[Bluebear]

10. Well that's not "politically incorrect".

Politically correct is a hijacked right wing term they use when they are whining how they can't call minorities names, for example.

[pitohui]

14. no it's just plain factually incorrect and stupid, see my post below i'm from new orleans EOM

,

[pitohui]

13. that's because there were no flights out and those folks didn't have cars

you don't have a car staying in a fancy pants hotel in the french quarter any more than you'd have a car vacationing in manhattan

so your posts were stupid

they were flying people in on saturday, if the airlines had stopped bringing people in sooner, maybe you'd have a cause of complaint, but the storm was supposedly going to flora-bama, not to new orleans

and on sunday we had a mandatory evac -- that's how quick those things turn

the situation with dean in cancun has fuck-all to do with katrina in new orleans

people were begging to fly out once they knew the facts in new orleans, there weren't enough fucking airplanes

next stupid question???

[JanMichael]

17. I was watching the news too.

We knew NO was fucked pretty early.

Those people CHOSE to stay. They said so in interviews. Said they didn't think it would be that bad.

You are the rudest person on DU, bar none. I wish you would put my username on "ignore."

I am doing the same with you.

[pitohui]

22. i wasn't watching the news, i was living it

i am proud and honored to be "ignored" by someone who hates the truth so much, i thank you

[Catherine Vincent]

39. That was uncalled for. n/t

[tularetom]

6. As god said to noah in that old bill cosby bit

"How long can you tread water?"

I hope the hotels are smart enough to make these assholes sign some sort of waiver of liability.

Otherwise you'll see them again in a couple of days whining about how nobody warned them.

[Labors of Hercules]

8. LOL... First time I read your post, I thought you wrote "Terrorists".

Sorry, it just made me laugh to read it in that context. :popcorn:

[TheCowsCameHome]

11. I hope these morans pay in advance.

Because they'll probably never be seen again after the storm hits..............

[lse7581011]

12. These People

deserve everything they get!

[supernova]

15. Insanely dumb

I really love how people think natural disasters won't apply to them.

In the next 24 hours they'll be screaming to get the hell out of dodge.

[pitohui]

16. so they find 3 fuckwits to interview and everyone in cancun is an idiot?

i guarantee you that there is a limit on how many people will be able to get seats on planes and fly out before the airports are shut, more people rioting at the airport won't help anything, and many people guilty of nothing but booking a budget vacation will be in harm's way even if they do request an early return because they won't get it!

[JanMichael]

19. THIS thread is about the people who are ARRIVING

not about the poor clowns trying to leave.

[pitohui]

23. this thread is about trying to put a sideways slam on katrina victims

and the person who started it should be ashamed of themselves

when will it end?

[supernova]

26. What?

"this thread is about trying to put a sideways slam on katrina victims"

How do you figure that?

I'm not talking about the poor souls who live there and will have to ride out this mess. I was talking about the doofuses who go on vacation there ANYWAY, knowing that the hurricane will likely hit their destination. And yes, it is rather "plantation" minded to go on vacaction, expect all those hotel and restuarant workers to serve you, even though, they really need to be securing their families and property and finding safety themselves.

[JanMichael]

27. Thank you

I can't believe anyone in their right mind would argue that the "ugly American" cliche is really A-OK in a situation like this.

Amazing.

[supernova]

31. Absolutely

And just to put another nuance on it. If after the hurricane, resorts and others offer deals to come enjoy the sun and help clean up, get the ecnomy up and running again. I don't have a problem with that.

[pitohui]

34. this poster has a history of being anti-katrina victims

before saying "what" you need to read the thread

this person has spewed a lot of lies about what happened during katrina cuz he was "watching on the news"

i lived it

the man is lying

next question?

[lse7581011]

30. What Are You Reading?

obviously not what the rest of us are! Get a grip!

[pitohui]

37. you get a grip, you don't have a idea of what you put your foot into

this person dislikes katrina victims and me in particular

he brags about crapping on katrina victims upthread, just skim up a few posts -- see post #9, sorry, i know people killed in this, many others on this site lost their homes in this storm, this person should not be allowed to post their hate against victims without being called on it

always best to read an ENTIRE thread before posting when a noob, otherwise you risk allying yourself with a bully

[lse7581011]

28. BUT!

if they were just checking in-they were just plain stupid to go!

[geomon666]

18. That is insane.

A Cat 5 is not something you want to go through, believe me, I know. It's good to know people are leaving Cancun in droves though.

[BadgerLaw2010]

32. Major hurricanes can smash reinforced concrete.

My brother got photographic proof of that from the Katrina damage down on the Gulf of Mexico. Concrete pylons literally snapped in half with the steel twisted into knots.

No matter how well you think that building is constructed, it's not a good idea to ride something like this out.

[TahitiNut]

20. I don't know. Depending on the timng, if I were going on vacation ...

... and arrived in such a situation, I might choose to stay (or suck it up if there were no flights out) if only to help out if I could. I would, of course, assume that the "comforts" were not to be expected but I'd also be likely to know that the building would be pretty safe. By far, the people most threatened are those in the more economically-deprived situation. Those with property (both business and private) would also be stressed by the threat ... and I might look at it as 'serendiity' (or Dharma) ... the Universe giving me the opportunity to find ways to be of assistance.

OTOH, I might run like hell. Dunno.

[JanMichael]

21. I don't think these people are looking at this as a humanitarian

opportunity.

They will be a drain on the local resources.

[pitohui]

24. people who vacation in hurricane areas during the hurricane season are the lower middle class

these are people w. little spare income and if their vacation is lost, then it's lost and who knows when they can afford another

i'm not surprised some few of those folks are less well educated nor am i surprised that some of those folks choose to cross their fingers and hope for the best

these days many usa citizens go years without a vacation and the super-cheap resort all inclusives entice people who might otherwise seldom or never get one

i'm mixed about it, i don't think we should be encouraging people to visit new orleans in august-september (prime hurricane time) but the yucatan is at risk august-november and that's a big hunk of time for people in that region of mexico not to be earning

articles like this rely on knee-jerk hate in a situation that is nowhere near as clearcut as they would have you believe

if we were all rich, no one would work at an all inclusive in cancun and no one would vacation at the beach in hurricane time...but we're not

[TahitiNut]

29. Well ... that's me. I worked more than 15 years before I took a "real" vacation.

That's counting from a 7-day low-budget driving vacation in the Northeast. I actually don't recall a "real" vacation before that, either ... except for a honeymoon. I typically extended a business trip to grab a few days of vacation time on-the-cheap. My first trip to Tahiti was that vacation ... because it was what I thought of as the "ultimate" vacation destination. It was. I went back two more times.

I can sure understand the conundrum, though. I once vacationed at Turks & Caicos at the tail end of the hurricane season ... for exactly that (cost) reason.

Hell ... there's no way those folks would've gotten their money back if they'd cancelled, either - let alone fly back out immediately. For median income folks, thousands of dollars isn't easily forfeited.

[ruiner4u]

33. What I find interesting in all these 'evil american tourist' tirades is the lack airline blame...

So they found a few idiot soundbites out of the many people checking into hotels.. ooookay.. ill grant ya that...

Now wheres that famous outrage for the airlines who are flying people into these danger zones?

[pitohui]

35. absolutely my husband was flown into new orleans on saturday for katrina

mandatory evac on sunday

but the OP who didn't live it sez it never happened, he needs to open a few newspapers or a few records of airport activity

they were flying people into new orleans on saturday!!!!

in our case, big effing deal, we live here, we just packed up our cars and drove out, but for tourists, they were fucked, they trusted that airlines would not be flying them into a danger zone and guess what!

many of the tourist in those supposed "four star hotels" were from australia or england and had not any knowledge whatsoever of what hurricanes do or the lack of help/supervision you get from the gov't in the usa

they were trapped w. no way out and i for one am not going to crap on them

[SoCalDem]

36. Shame on the greedy hoteliers for not just padlocking the place until the storm's gone

Those hotels being open and full of touristas means that the employees who HAVE to have those jobs are not available to their own families at a very critical time.. they cannot prepare their own homes for the storm..

[Catherine Vincent]

38. Isn't it because they can't leave?