The first hours it was emergency workers and volunteers digging through the rubble, straight through from the collapse of the first tower, too many hours to fathom--past the point of exhaustion. I spoke to several of them then, at the relief stations set up on the West Side highway, where I and thousands of other able-bodied citizens had congregated to see if we could be put to use. One man I handed a bottled water to had been digging with a makeshift shovel for 22 straight hours. I begged him to rest, or sleep if possible, to regain some strength. “My big brother’s in there.” he said. And he headed off to begin hour twenty-three.
Next skilled laborers started showing up to volunteer with the work crews: steel workers, electricians, off-duty firefighters and police and military officers, contractors of all stripes. Some brought hauling equipment, or expertise, or just their bare hands. They too dug for days and days, some for weeks, some quit their jobs to help, some left families states away. They didn’t lose anyone in the attack, they weren’t getting paid, no one had hired them. They were average Americans with skills, equipment and brawn who came to help because their momma’s raised them right.
Now five years later, a huge number of these first responders are sick. A whole host of upper and lower respiratory ailments and diseases laypeople call WTC disease is affecting those volunteers, and people who were/are living near the site. These folks don’t have union representation, or an employer who they can petition for worker’s compensation or healthcare coverage.
There couldn’t possibly be anything LESS partisan and more obvious-in-its-necessity then helping sick volunteers. It has nothing to do with race or socio-economic status or voting record or sexual orientation. Yet our city officials and state legislators won’t do a goddamed thing to help anyone until they figure out who to blame. The odds-on favorite is Christine Todd Whitman. The lawyers are of course looking for a person or entity with a slightly larger pocketbook. She’s done well for herself and all, but…
Anyway, point being, if you have a few seconds today, drop a line to your favorite NYS representative. Tell her/him that we have all the time in the world to find a rich enough scapegoat for the second wave of 9/11 victims, or until we have a president who cannot bring him or herself to sit idly by while unforeseen catastrophes take untold lives. Lots of people need to go to the doctor right now. And they need temporary financial assistance until they can return to work, full time disability if they can't. Tell said representative that this is a new low even for us; way beyond punishing the victim…we will not stoop to punishing people who volunteer to help victims.
Then tell them how all that practice helping innocent victims will come in handy as they return the more million Gulf region Katrina victims to their homes and neighborhoods.