Sorry for the hijack Mod ... I'm still confined, but I thought I had a little to add.
What is really the difference between being a victim or a survivor? It has nothing to do with the initial trauma. They are both victim to the tragedy. I think the term takes on another meaning when you apply it to how you handle the situation.
Case in point: Friday morning, 9:00am a coworker gets a call. Her house is on fire and it is fully involved. She was very upset and crying uncontrollably. Her cat was in the house as were her possessions. This morning she stopped by the office. She had a smile on her face and refused to let it get her down. Her cat is still missing, but she won’t let that stop her. She is no victim. She can't be held down.
Now as this relates to the hurricane victims: The numbers in our shelters are getting smaller and smaller. The folks that are left are victims. The survivors have come and gone. They have acquired transportation to a place with family, found an apartment locally, or just generally said I don't belong here and made their way any way they could.
One woman wanted bus fare to go to Virginia to get her son. I am very sympathetic to her plight to get her son but she is missing a very important point in her process. Where are you going back to once you retrieve your son? Do you have a plan? No.
I fully expect to hear the hurricane victims complaining about not getting the things they need. This woman was only going to get round-trip bus fare for her self and one-way fare for her son. All the people providing the fare wanted to know was ... What's your plan when you get back? She had none. Surely she has some family somewhere. The accommodations may be tight but family is family and you help each other out.
I am a survivor. I would have stayed in a shelter somewhere for a little while. I don't have a lot, but I have a strong back and I can hold my own when it comes to manual labor. I know you can get day labor here in the blink of an eye. It might not be permanent but its quick money. I could do that to survive.
We are going to see plenty of victims who will remain victims until all of the free stuff is gone and then they will go back to their lifestyles. Living off of you and me. After all, we're survivors and that is our job.