Snopes debunking of the rascist email about the Wascom rest stop

[jobycom]

I won't reprint the email, but to summarize, it's a filthy, rascist accusation that the New Orleans evacuees behaved badly at a rest stop in Wascom, TX, on I-20. Snopes had it as undetermined for a while, but it is now listed as false. Two letters in particular helped debunk it, and I found the letters rather informative, even moving.

From Snopes:

Also, one of our readers supplied an account of dealings with the Katrina bus riders at that rest stop that contradicts the claim that evacuees were impolite, demanding, arrogant, abusive, and left the facilities in awful state:

"Regarding the Waskom Texas Tourist Rest Area, I can assure you this is NOT a true story. I live in the area & have a friend that works at this facility. Altho my friend is not working today, I called and spoke with another employee who states this story is totally not true. It is true that many buses stopped here during the aftermath of Katrina, relocating evacuees to Dallas & other points.

snip

It seems there were some used clothing there & after the 1st few buses, all the clothes were gone as evacuees were coming in with only the clothes on their backs. There was a pregnant woman who had no shoes at all. Most all of these people were very grateful to the employess, volunteers and others that were there to assist them. They did not trash the place, they were not rude, they were grateful & patient for what they did receive. Thank You for letting me express this."

But the final nail in this rumor's coffin comes from the person in charge that day of the Texas Travel Information Center, the rest stop in question:

"I am the supervisor of the Texas Travel Information Center in Waskom, Texas, and was on duty most of the time that the evacuee buses were coming through. My experience with the evacuees was nothing like the account that is given below.

All of the evacuees that my staff and I came in contact with were very grateful for what we were doing and thanked us immensely. The situation in the rest rooms never occurred or my janitorial staff would have told me about it.

The only problem that occurred during the entire evacuation period was when two evacuees started arguing over some of the donated clothing items. At that point, we decided to remove the remainder of the clothing and shoes in order to avoid any future incidents.

As in any given situation, there will be some people that you will not be able to please. All I have to say is that this was not our experience.

In case anyone missed the 5 o'clock news, the reason the people were "nasty" was because they had been living in the Superdome, the New Orleans Convention Center or on top of their houses for at least five days without the benefit of food, water or shower facilities.

Everyone I have talked to came away from this experience with a whole new appreciation for what they have compared to the evacuees. I know it made me feel good to see so many people and organizations willingly volunteer their time to help out others that were in such desparate need.

It saddens me to think that someone is trying to turn such a positive situation into something negative."

Melissa Wilson, Supervisor
Texas Travel Information Center
Waskom, TX


http://www.snopes.com/katrina/personal/reststop.asp