Frankenstorm

It's been a long couple of weeks for the local meteorologists. Sunny skies, balmy temperatures, nary a cloud in sight. It might have rained one day, but just for a little while. In short, they are bored out of their ever-loving minds. This explains why this current storm, Hurricane Sandy, has their panties in such a bunch.

I understand the storm is historic in that it isn't following the normal epicenter of destruction, with outlying circles of mess and mayhem. Instead, this one is sort of cone-shaped, so it is going to hit everywhere all at once. The weathermen (yes, I know there are women in that profession but typing weather people is just ridiculous) are behaving as if this storm may just wind up being the End of Days. I understand that trees filled with leaves are bad news for storms. The heavy leaves clog storm drains, adding to flooding, which adds to the number of tree roots that become oversaturated and fall down. Plus, high winds cause lots of limbs to crash down on stuff like cars, roadways, people, and power lines. I understand all of this is a problem.

What I do not understand is why we are all acting as if losing power equates losing our lives. Surely we all have a few candles around? Even if they are banana bread scented, they still expel light. Everyone has batteries, even if you have to pry them out of remote controls? Our land lines may go out but I somehow doubt Facebook and Twitter will go silent being that we all have smart phones. We won't be able to play Words with Friends so we can save our charge, but we'll still be able to text friends and relatives to check on safety and ask for/offer help. Schools will find a way to tell us they are closed, even if they have to break out semaphore flags. In short of an actual generator, I'm pretty sure we all have enough of the basics to survive.

If you can read this blog, I will bet that you already have enough food in your pantry, fridge, and possibly second freezer/beer fridge to feed yourself and your family for a week. The meals may not be well-balanced, but everyone has enough cans of old soup, frozen food, and snacks to survive for a few days. This isn't a television show - if the power goes out, it will go back on! Long before we perish from rickets or stupidity, we can just drive to the local big box store, convenience store, chain restaurant, grocery store, or diner to eat a hot meal or buy a cold one. While it may take days for suburbia to get power, I've never yet heard of a situation where Fortune 500 companies let their stores languish in darkness. No power equals no money and how can you sell the necessities of life at twice their market value if you don't have operating cash registers? Even if it takes a few days, we all have enough friends, family, and gym memberships that we can get ourselves washed. The laundry may pile up, the dust bunnies may start to party plan, and you may go through enough paper plates and cups to start your own landfill, but you will survive.

And if the power fails and you have to go to bed early with your significant other, well, there are worse ways to spend a long night, ya know?