CNN Coverage of the Mississippi situation

Great , Good News !

Greetings From New Orleans ,
First of all , Robert , thanks so much for posting this information concerning the CNN news crew going on board a tow boat to record and report on this natural disaster ! If there is any good news concerning this natural disaster , I believe is that it just may show what real people and real mariners have to work and deal with in these extreme and most dangerous river conditions !
Ha ! Maybe some one in the right place and the right time read my previous article and decided to take my advice and place a news crew on a river tow boat !
Thanks so much for posting this and looking forward to CNN's report !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson
NOBRA 70

That IS good news! Maybe CNN can give the American public some firsthand and accurate information about the dire flooding conditions. A couple of days ago I was watching MSNBC and a reporter on the levee in Memphis, when asked what the barge traffic would do when it couldn't pass Memphis, replied something to the effect of, "they'll just find other routes on other rivers and tributaries and rejoin the Mississippi at Caruthersville" My mouth kinda dropped open.

I caught a glimpse of the CNN clip on the towboat and from what I saw it wasnt very good . the reporter was apparently standing on the head of the boat looking out over the tow which looked to be about 6 or 8 mixed barges.

I have two observations on this and also on some news stories I've seen over the last couple of days concerning the Arkansas River and the Mississippi flood's impact on that waterway.

The first observation is this: I am often asked about my work, and in the past have gone into great detail to tell people about it. They always seem very interested and are surprised at a lot of the things I tell them about inland river navigation in general. The problem is, they remember almost nothing. The second thing is that while the general public may have some interest in the flood, navigation, waterways, boats and ships, etc., they do not retain any of that information, either. And while much of what we do on a boat is interesting, it moves far too slowly to hold the interest of the average person. Everyone has heard the description of our jobs as "hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror", and that is a pretty apt description. Unless a person is truly interested in our craft and way of life, they are quickly bored by observation of the actual work on a boat. Just as a lawyer puts in many hours of tedious work reading, making phone calls, etc. to make a courtroom appearance, we have to do many hours of tedium in our work. And when we make the work look easy even when it is tough, those who don't know what they are looking at are not properly impressed because they don't know that what they are seeing is a difficult job made to look easy by those who know exactly what they are doing.

As far as the stories on the Arkansas River, few will remember that 2 months from now. You'll hear something like, "Oh, are there boats on the Arkansas River?"

Captain Bob, you are right, but keep explaining anyway. What you do is very important, and people need to know how much of this nation's economy depends on river navigation. I would give my River Control talk, explaining how the Old River Control Structure got there, as well as the whole foodway system, and talk about what would happen if it failed. I asked people if they knew it was there, and the answer was no--and I'd tell them how the economy of the nation depends on the Mississippi River. I jumped for joy when someone bought Rising Tide from the gift shop afterward. If we educate one person, that person will educate more.

I know when I was working on the DQ that the people back home had not a clue as to what I was doing. It surprised me when after several years of working on the river, I would get a really dumb question like "Do you live on the boat?" I gave programs and really talked it up when anyone would listen.

Hey, Bob, has anyone ever said to you "Are there boats on the Mississippi?"

or even worse...

The passenger who asked Roddy while we were docked, when we would be getting to the Mississippi River!

*RE: Those one line questions*

Those one line questions above are dandies. I've heard at sea: 1. "Now, does the ship ever come back this way again?" 2. "How do they paint the bottom if it's in the water all the time?" 3. "Do people working on here have homes and families...can they get married?" And, on the DQ, "Is the steam always white like that?" Mary is right about one book or piece of information to people making all the difference. I could go on and on but won't at this point.

R. Dale Flick, Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati.

Oh, we could ALL go on and on and on! The scariest thing to me has always been that these are, for the most part, well-educated people who you would never guess would ask some of these questions.

I Have One !

Greetings From New Orleans !
When I was " Cutting My Teeth " , on the steamboats we as the crew on the boats would hear all manner of questions from the Passengers ranging from ,
" Are there propellers in front of the paddlewheel ? " to " Are there diesel engines in the Boiler Room ? "
I do believe that it was questions like this that instigated many of the crew and officiers to become a bit creative with the things that we would tell the passengers to not only amuse ourselves but to make their day as well !
Smooth Sailing !
Ted Davisson
NOBRA 70

R. Dale Flick;25926 wrote: Those one line questions above are dandies. I've heard at sea: 1. "Now, does the ship ever come back this way again?" 2. "How do they paint the bottom if it's in the water all the time?" 3. "Do people working on here have homes and families...can they get married?" And, on the DQ, "Is the steam always white like that?" Mary is right about one book or piece of information to people making all the difference. I could go on and on but won't at this point.

R. Dale Flick, Coal Haven Landing, Ohio River, Cincinnati.

You could look at it this way. Asking dumb questions is better than asking no questions at all. As in complete lack of interest.