Don't drink the water.

[et_pb_section admin_label="section"][et_pb_row admin_label="row"][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text"] Ok you guys, here’s the thing…Flint and their horrific water crisis has been weighing on my mind a lot in the last several days. My husband was there last week for work and that’s when it really hit home. I guess out of sight, out of mind until then but once you have a person physically there, witnessing the details, your sight gets clearer. Fast. The first conversation I had with my husband when he was in Flint, Michigan last week went something like this: “soooo….not only can’t you drink the water, you can’t TOUCH the water. They give out hand sanitizer and sanitizing wipes at the local school (and I would imagine at other places) because you CAN’T WASH YOUR HANDS after you use the bathroom.”  He was YELLING this at me, infuriated. After spending 2 days there, he came home with all kinds of stories from locals about how they are living their lives in Flint today. I have so much to yell about on this subject it’s mind blowing.

EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN FLINT HAS BEEN AFFECTED BY THIS WATER CRISIS.

Think about how we use water…not only do we wash with it, we brush teeth, we cook with it, we DRINK IT. Imagine not being able to turn on your tap without being harmed.  Imagine now your home being affected by having these toxins in the pipes. Imagine your local government turning a blind eye to it KNOWING it was happening. Imagine the people you trust to keep your environment safe, your water clean ignoring it. Imagine having to wake up every morning to boil water so your children (YOUR CHILDREN) can brush their teeth and wash their bodies. Look at your babies right now if you can and imagine living in a place where toxins are in their water, infecting their (and your) bodies, harming their health, hurting them

How do you feel?

MAD

SAD

EXAPERATED

FRUSTRATED

DISGUSTED

ANNOYED

FURIOUS

NERVOUS

SCARED

SICK

I feel all of it and I don’t even live there. I am so mad about this. How is it possible?? WHERE DO WE LIVE??? Hell, this is AMERICA. We are the greatest country in the world and we don’t have clean water? Um, no. Unacceptable. Disgusting.  And wait! What’s even crazier is that the water company is still billing residents for water usage!! WHAT??? Stop.

The problem here, aside from the obvious is how does it get fixed? How do we make sure it doesn’t happen in another city? How do we trust that the people who are responsible for keeping our water clean are doing their jobs? Many people are sick because of this. Ten people have died because of this. This needs to be fixed, not band aided. Fixed. Hey, Rick Snyder, you're guilty. You should be bending over backward to provided the residents of Flint water testing kits, not making them do the legwork. You should mobilize a massive effort to make sure EVERY SINGLE home, business, church, school, building is tested. YOU. It's your job. Fix it.

In the meantime, how do we help? I've gathered some places for donations and links for petition signing...they're all below. I hope this makes you as infuriated as it does me. We can't continue to live in a world that is so advanced on so many levels, and not have basic resources like plumbing and WATER!!! COME ON PEOPLE!!

Ways to help:

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/how-help-flint-michigan

[embed]http://time.com/4190562/flint-michigan-water-how-help/[/embed]

http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/13/us/iyw-flint-michigan-water-crisis-how-to-help/

Petitions for change:

 http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/flint-residents-deserve

http://michaelmoore.com/ArrestGovSnyder/

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