On the mend, but changed forever

摘要

After boarding up their windows and just before they fled, many New Orleans shopkeepers paused to write "Looters will be shot" on their premises. Some felt more detail was required. Painted on the front of Oriental Rugs on St Charles Avenue are the words: "Don't try. I am sleeping inside with a big dog, an ugly woman, two shotguns and a claw hammer." To the right is an update, added a few days later in the same hand: "Still here. Woman left Fri. Cooking a pot of dog gumbo." The fear has now gone. New Orleans is safe enough for businessfolk to come back and start figuring out how to revive their businesses-the road blocks began letting them through on September 12th. The city is even safe enough for George Bush to drive around in an open-topped vehicle, as he did that same day. Of course, as a secret service agent told the Times-Picayune, a local paper, "we don't normally cruise through American cities that have been virtually emptied of people."