Yes, I've followed the Katrina incident and the following aftermath very carefully, even to this day. I've watched all the videos, read all the newpaper reports, even firsthand accounts. Still doesn't change my mind. Stealing is stealing. Doesn't matter if the cops are doing it, doesn't matter if everyone is doing it, it doesn't matter if you're not caught. You're still a thief, and what's worse, you're taking advantage of a natual disaster when people are their must vulnerable to do it.

Are you too poor right now to buy food and water? Not having a place to store it isn't much of an excuse. A couple cases of water and some canned food doesn't take that much room. What you're saying is, you don't want to spare the room, you want the market to store it for you indefinitely, but you don't want to pay them for it ahead of time, in fact, you want it for free if you ever need it. I wouldn't care if I recognized you, or if i knew your name, if that was my market you wouldn't be getting anything.

You can say I wouldn't understand, but I've lived in the bay area, so I'm very familiar with your situation. Space is tight, but not that tight where you have absolutely no room for essentials. I just don't agree with your mentatility that you have a right to take what you need in an emergency, when you have every opportunity to prepare beforehand. Of course, these discussions always turn into pissing matches on whether or not you would do what was necessary to help your family survive. I would do everything I could BEFORE a disaster to make sure I have the best chances of making it through, not wait until afterwards to steal from other people who are in similar situations. Do you aspire to be one of those people you saw on TV during Katrina?