People Helping People

I'm getting ready to go out with Mandy and video people in Nashville helping each other during this great time if crisis. I'm going to try and shoot some really great stuff. We'll see.... So I went out to video people helping people and the first place that we went was down the street from my house. By we I mean my friend Mandy. When we arrived there were already a number of people working down West Hamilton rd, but the street was blocked by police cars and they were diverting traffic and people away from the road. The next street over had a house in the middle of the road. Yes, you read that correctly. A house, filling the entire road. Apparently the house had raised off its foundation and had been swept across the street. The only thing that kept it from crashing into the house directly across the street was a tree and a telephone poll. It was insane that a brick house could just be picked up and dragged across the lawn.

There were several men cleaning an air-conditioning unit and a couple of men leaning against a pickup truck. They looked exhausted. I asked them if I could shoot some of the work that they are doing to help each other clean up. They told me that there had already been about 20 cameras there already and they were tired. I was allowed to film some of the guys fixing the AC unit and replacing the duct work, but I felt like I was imposing and really unwelcome.  I wasn't trying to do that. I just wanted to make a video that might them get some help and show the spirit of out awesome city, but I didn't want to make people uncomfortable. I asked Mandy if we could go downtown. I figured there would be a lot of people there working together. We parked in a parking garage on 3rd and commerce (something that would turn out to be a mistake) and walked down the street. Before we could get onto second Ave in downtown Nashville we were stopped by some policemen that would not let us go down to shoot the relief effort. All of the streets were blocked and we were hungry. We at a Sabarro's. I spent the last of my money there. My car bounced when I tried to by Mandy's lunch.