CAROLINE'S CORNER: SANDBAGGING RENEWS FAITH IN HUMANITY

Some people in this great nation of ours have lost all faith in mankind and the potential kind acts that man can perform. They hear about drive-by shootings, child abuse, federal building bombings and such atrocities and think the world is going to hell in a hand basket.

These negative ones need only go to sandbagging scenes along the Mississippi River to renew their faith in humanity. Folks from 8 to 80 and from excellent health to "should be home in bed" are out there doing the job to attempt to keep Old Man River from creeping into family rooms and kitchens.

It takes two to tango, and it takes three to make a team of sandbaggers. One holds the bag. The holder can sit on other sandbags or a bucket. A strong back isn't required.The shoveler scoops the sand into the bag while the team member holds it. Three heaping shovels will do the job. The process works better if the holder will let the shoveler take turns with him.The one who ties the heavy plastic strings goes away with the most blisters. This is also the most monotonous job, just sittin' on a sandbag while tyin' strings, over and over.

Whether you are into holding, shoveling, or tying, you can do your thing.

My first experience with sandbagging came in the Great Flood of 1993. I was painting the exterior of my home, it was 100 degrees in the shade and I heard the first plea for sandbaggers in Dutchtown.I painted and thought and thought and painted. It finally occurred to me that I could not paint my home while the homes of others were in jeopardy. I threw the lid on the can of paint, jumped in my car and headed to the heaping mounds of sand. My painting clothes became my sandbagging clothes.

A little less than two years later, the call from Dutchtown came again. The Diversion Channel would divert muddy river water right into the little village if sandbags and levees were not added along the highway.

Once again I rushed to the town where volunteers with all sorts of talents and equipment were pouring in from all directions. There was the man from Jackson who brought his huge outdoor floodlight, mounted on a truck, so the sandbaggers could work long into the night. There was the man from Cape Girardeau who brought his flatbed trailer to aid in the transportation of the bags to the highway.

There was the man from Scott City who was in pain with an aching back, but he kept shoveling and kept those jokes coming. He realized that a sense of humor is of great value in times of potential disaster.

There was the man from Dutchtown whose home was threatened. In front of his residence was parked a trailer, waiting to receive his furniture and years of accumulated family pictures, should the quickly-constructed levee break. He apologized for his wife, who could not be there to help because of her arthritis.

In '93, there was the man from Pennsylvania who was traveling along Interstate 55 when he heard the plea for help. He said he was unable to continue on vacation when his muscles and hands were needed.

People from all around gathered into one community of workers and became as one great family.

The young people amazed me. Who says our young people are all bad? Maybe these naysayers should go to a disaster scene and see the real world of young people, not the ones that make the front page of newspapers.

People pulling together is what makes the world go 'round. My only worry is that the great earthquake will hit when a great flood is in progress. Who will be there to pull and what will happen when the old man who is "way out of his banks" runs backwards?