Since this had been officially decalred a 4-day holiday weekend, Thanksgiving wasn't over until Sunday night. That gave Bob Ryan, Ron Oetting, and Phil Baker a chance to redeem themselves. Jil was right: they'd indulged in their own "Wild Turkey" celebration while others across the county enjoyed turkey dinners. The mammoth outpouring of generosity hadn't ended on Thanksgiving Day, but was continuing throughout the weekend. O.U.T.R.A.G.E. had arranged for massive amounts of food, clothing, medicine, furniture, bedding, and home improvement materials to be given away to all those still in need. No need to fill out cumbersome government forms and wait to be declared 'elligible'. If you were in need, you could have whatever it was you needed. In this environment of compassion and good-heartedness, there was surprisingly little malfeasance. Even in the hardest-hit regions of the country, looting was at a minimum. Warehouses full of merchandise that had been inventories of now-vanquished chain stores were opened up so that people in need could help themselves. O.U.T.R.A.G.E. volunteers served as the distributor for all this generosity, but made it clear that the goods came from the remnants of these mega-rich retailers who, for so long, had made millions of profitable dollars from hard-working Americans. Now there was no WalMart, Target, K-Mart, or Kohl's corporate headquarters. Regional stores that were still operational were being run by the local store managers, using what inventories (s)he had or could obtain locally. Distribution Centers around the country had become the new food banks and Goodwill stores. In fact, O.U.T.R.A.G.E. volunteers had recruited Salvation Army employees and church groups to help coordinate the giveaway projects and distribute all the goods. Yes, there were some controls in place to prevent anyone from hoarding or stockpiling things they didn't truly need, and meticulous records were kept of those who had been given things so that they couldn't travel to another site and get more free 'stuff'. The raw truth remained: millions of Americans were still homeless as a result of the bombings and natural disasters that occured last winter and in the early spring. O.U.T.R.A.G.E. had created an extensive "network of generosity" wherein those victims could get back on their feet. It was much better organized than the federal government's incompetent efforts after Hurricane Katrina had hit New Orleans, in which people were virtually forgotten about for years after that disaster. Katrina had been one of the Bush administration's most defining moments that demonstrated how its incompetence at home was equal to its incompetence in 'war'.
Bob Ryan roused Oetting and Baker from their inebriated sleep early Friday morning. "Let's go, you guys," he ordered, "Jil needs help and we're gonna help her - all day." Baker rolled out of his bed in the back of the motorcoach and fell on the floor with a thud. Oetting climbed from his upper bunk, made some sarcastic remark about Baker's rotundity, and proceeded to fall on top of Baker. As the two of them wrestled themselves to an upright position, Ryan shook his head and admonished, "You guys are the closest things to Neanderthals I know. I'm going over the other bus to wake up Lynn and her 'Army buddy'; by the time I get back, you guys better be ready for a full day's work." Phil farted; Oetting grunted. Phil looked around for his flask of Wild Turkey, but Ryan got to it first and stuck it in his hip pocket. "We'll save this for later," he ordered.
"Gee, Bob," Baker observed with more than a dollop of dripping sarcasm, "you're not as fun since you've stopped drinking."