Until this week, we never even knew anyone personally who was affected by a disaster to the point of being evacuated. Scott's mom in Florida has sustained some property damage in a couple hurricanes, but fortunately she never had to evacuate and was never in imminent physical danger.
We, safe and sound here in the Midwest, were unexpectedly affected by the wildfires this week...A client of Scott's was evacuated from her home and, at least temporarily, is out of business until life returns to normal out there. As a result, she cannot pay him the next installment for the project on which he is working with her.
It is one of those situations where I am upset, but I feel even more guilty for being upset. Sure, this creates a financial disaster for us, but on the "disaster scale," I think it comes in at a measly 3 or 4 as opposed to the legitimate 8 or 9 of being evacuated from your home, and being subjected to the fear that you have lost everything you own, and your business to boot. It comes right down to one of those (extremely hard for me to accept) situations in life over which we have no control.There will be no disaster relief coming to help us out of the jam this creates for us...chalk it up to the cost being self-employed. It is difficult to not be freaked out, but I have to find the fortitude to do the righteous thing, which is to count my blessings...for the things that are not falling apart in my world today.
This experience reminds me that - for better or worse - we are all connected...that no matter how far-flung we are from one another, what happens to one affects us all.
