The DooDoo Bandit Strikes Again

Yes, it’s true. We got doodoo! Doodoo for you too?

At 12:30 today they found e.coli in Greenville’s water, so we’re all on doodoo alert apparently for the next 48 hours. No rinsing dishes without boiling water, no brushing teeth without boiled water, no cooking without boiling water… wait a minute… I’m back in Libya. lol.

 

Greenville got a little taste today of what its like not to have clean water and my God the town has fallen apart. Yes, there is e.coli and apparently trace amounts of feces in the water ( and by “trace amounts” I mean few particles per billion). While I’m not happy about the prospect, I’m not freaking out either. We had almost full-scale riots in Wal-Mart, Sam’s club, Food Lion, etc.

 

April and I did get 5 gallons of water to last us through the “crisis” but that’s primarily because I really want my coffee and I’m not much inclined to wait for boiling water when I want it.

The point of all of this is to bring one thing to light: Within 2 hours of the notice that all restaurants, and anyone who has a sanitation grade had to close business, people were leaving work, flocking to stores to buy out all the water, sharing worst-case scenarios that generally put people in a panic, and just acting like idiots.

 

It wasn’t until I started writing this that I remembered that I lived in a country for two years where no one is advised to drink the water because of WAY worse things than we have here in ours today. Hey people, relax a little and consider this a reminder of how good you have it the next time you start complaining about how rough life in the US is. One hour with a little dirty water and you’re crying like babies and burning up the news station web sites with ridiculous comments… it’s really sad.

 

For the official story, and to see some of the ridiculous comments people have made, visit the local news web sites.

WITN TV: http://www.witntv.com/home/headlines/21453854.html

WNCT TV: http://www.wnct.com/midatlantic/nct/news/local_news.apx.-content-articles-NCT-2008-06-25-0015.html

 

Here’s a few excerpts I like most:

You would have thought this was an outbreak of Smallpox to read this guy’s post:

Posted by: Zachary Hardin Location: West Side of Greenville on Jun 25, 2008 at 02:25 PM
I agree...where is Dr. Joh Morrow who is supposed to be in charge of public health? This is AMERICA not some second or third world counrty...We have had no major rain or floods in recent days. How is it possible that an contamination on this level could occour? Think about all the people at the HOSPITAL that can't wash thier hands properly to operate on people or the hundreds of food establishments that cant serve water or ICED TEA!! AHHHHH!...what a nightmare!!....As if the water in Greenville didnt already have enough lead in it, now I have to worried about crap contaminating my water?...Greeeaaat...Greenville...Whats next? An out break of the "Bubonic plague"?

Here’s one who needs to check her facts first: Do you REALLY think PCMH would buy all the water in the grocery store?

Posted by: LMP on Jun 25, 2008 at 05:32 PM
I went to Sam's club today to get water of course and when I got there, none was left. The lady working said PCMH has called all the grocery stores and bought all the water. Sorry for the sick people but they are gonna have even more problems on there hands because they left not water for the rest of us~!!!!

Here’s a gem too:

Posted by: Alecia Location: Greenville on Jun 25, 2008 at 05:57 PM
I had to go and pick up my children from daycare early today because of the water siuation. Why is this affected daycare centers?? I mean we are paying for disgusting water, high gas prices, poor air and now I have to miss work because the daycares are closed. WITN do you know why daycare centers are closed because of this?? I can understand restaurants. Thanks WITN

Maybe because they have to WASH the crap your kids are putting in their mouths? And they have to give them stuff to drink? And because the Sheriff’s department made them close?

 

 

My inspiration for DooDoo Bandit… This is the comment that made me write this post! I love this guy!

Posted by: Big Dog Location: Gvegas on Jun 25, 2008 at 04:37 PM
We need some doo-doo bandits to clean the water!

 

 

This one gets the dipshit award:

Posted by: G Vegas? Really? Location: Greenville on Jun 25, 2008 at 07:06 PM
For those people who experienced the symptoms before this story broke, is there any type of action we can take? Can we file a law suit? Class action? If so, what are the chances of actually winning or settling without having it stalled up in court for 7 years? Now that Dr. John Morrow has said that we should not even shower with this water, are businesses going to close down and let their employees off tomorrow? Specifically is the City of Greenville going to allow non-essential personnel to stay home? What about the Pitt County Gov't and NC State Gov't places of business here in Greenville? I mean this is a City wide emergencey no doubt. Not only that, it stems from a City institution. Stands to reason that we would not have to shower in this mess to have to go to work. Imagine all of us walking around in the same building with fecal matter all over our bodies.

 

 

Ooh.. a brain surgeon.. good damn thing she’s still a student. There’s time to save her intelligence.

Posted by: PCC Nursing Student Location: G-ville on Jun 25, 2008 at 07:14 PM
This report is WRONG....you boil the water for only ONE min, your still going to get sick! You MUST boil the water for at least 10 min. to kill the bacteria. Any Microbiologist will tell you that!

Sweetheart, if you boil water for one minute, it’s exceeding 212 degrees Fahrenheit, at which point “most” everything dies. Boiling for ten minutes will not raise the temperature over 212 degrees. The only way to boil it over that temperature is to use a pressure cooker or an autoclave… go read your textbooks, kid. Alternatively, you MAY have to boil it longer if you live on top of Mount Everest because the altitude makes the boiling point lower, allowing some resistant strains to survive. Considering we are about 10 feet above sea level, I think we’re excluded from this requirement.