Prince George's generosity has been outstanding, just like it was last year for the victims in Fort McMurray.
Our willingness to give, however, needs to extend the feelings of our guests who will eventually head home to find that home as they knew it is gone. That means being respectful about how temporarily inconvenienced we may be by the wildfires, from stinky, smoky air to disrupted vacation plans. There are people amongst us going through far worse and we need to care for more than just where they're sleeping.
In many of their comments, made to The Citizen and other news media outlets, the evacuees have commented about being ready. While some made some preparations, however modest, others confessed to simply being caught off guard. Now they're warning those of us lucky enough to not be spending the second week of July sleeping in a school gymnasium to be smarter.
"I don't know how it affected other people but I didn't react," admitted Dave Robb, 71, evacuated from 108 Mile Ranch last Thursday. "What I should have been doing is when the fire services give an alert, you really should be packing your stuff and I didn't do that. When the call came out in my neighbourhood to get out now (Friday afternoon), I was running around my house wondering what to take. If you get an alert, that's the time to get packed. Even if you don't have to leave, get packed and get it in your vehicle and when they say you have to go now you leave."
As Canadians, we are blessed with the good fortune of rarely having to worry about where we would go and what we would do if we had to leave our homes and our community in fear of our lives.
The reality is most people devote far more time to fantasizing about lottery wins and other good fortunes than planning for far more likely sudden and unpleasant possibilities.
If there's one lesson to take away from the events of the last week in the Cariboo, it has nothing to do with fire and managing forests. Instead, it should be about imagining what would we do if it was us.
In that light, taking the time to talk about family and friends about when we would leave, where we would go and how would we get there isn't a downer conversation, it's an essential chat that could real-life implications and spare everyone involved heartache down the road. Call it an "in case of emergency, break glass" discussion, especially for those living in a heavily forested area of the city or the surrounding area. Furthermore, imagine what it would be like to depend on the hospitality of others for food, fuel and lodging, while living with the uncertainty of not knowing when you'll get to go home and what you'll find when you get there.
With that in mind, Prince George residents need to remain generous in the coming days - in time, money, hospitality and sensitivity - to the evacuees who find themselves unexpected guests in this city. It is only chance that prevented our roles from being reversed.
Next time, it may be different.
-- Editor-in-chief Neil Godbout
