"Of all the homes in Whitestocking, at least if my house had been the only one lost, my neighbors could've helped me. See, we're so devastated that we can't help each other. I've never been in this situation in my life that I couldn't help my neighbor. And that's hard. It's hard for me to deal with. I've always been working. I'm a person that's always believed in giving. It's hard for me to receive. But I've got to be like a - I'm not a beggar, but it's like, people got to help you. There's no other way to get it. You've got to get help. That's a bad - I'm not proud. I don't have that pride spirit, but I'm a working person. I'm not used to people giving me. I'm the one always to give. It's hard to stand in line and wait for somebody to tell you, 'You can have this, and you can't have this, and you can't have that.' And you've worked all your life, and you've always been the one to give."
Interview with Bert Pickett by Charlie Thompson, Dec 18, 1999, Interview K-0285, in the Southern Oral History Program Collection #4007, Southern Historical Collection, Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.