This week has been one full of lessons. Last week my mom called with news that a superstorm was coming. My first reaction was one that I imagine a lot of people had, "it will pass over us," or "I'll worry about it this weekend." Well, fortunately I have an awesome mom who in the midst of me not having wifi in my new apartment would call and give me updates on the storm. Well, Sunday came and went and nothing had really happened. The skies were gray and the wind was blowing a little bit but nothing too extreme. My friend from the ward, Whitney, and I made a quick last minute run to the store which winded up not being so quick. We waited in line for 20 or so minutes which is unheard of in NYC, the city of fast walkers and express lanes. That day before church I had packed an emergency kit of things my apartment and I might need if we were to be evacuated. My roommate thought I was ridiculous which I was fine with because I would rather be safe than sorry. The next morning we woke up and it seemed like nothing at all had happened. Once again, mom saved the day with information as to what was happening in New Jersey and in downtown Manhattan. By the end of Monday, I had gone mad, having been cooped up in a little apartment with a bedroom the size of a walk-in closet. I had done absolutely nothing all day. I couldn't even focus on my homework I was so bored. Today, I woke up fired up and ready to go help with cleaning up the storm. I walked up to Whitney's apartment and called her just as I was getting to her door and I told her I was going to go downtown to see if anyone needed help. Whitney threw her hair into a bun and put on her rain boots and we began the long walk to the end of the island. (When you look at google maps, we walked from 65th down to Barclay Street and back. Easily over 150 blocks) The further and further down we got the more deserted it became. There was no electricity and no open restaurants or businesses at all really. We overheard people saying that the roads we were walking on had been completely covered in water just a few hours before. Leaves and garbage were everywhere and in many places it smelled of sewer and vomit. I think I've checked my Facebook more in the last 48 hours than I have in my entire life. I am disgusted with the people living in my area and above, who are so self absorbed to be saying things like, "the news is blowing the storm way out of proportion," and "All we got was a little wind, what happened to the
hurricane we were supposed to get?" Get off your butts and go see for yourself! I can't even imagine how bad New Jersey is. The sad thing about NY is that with so many people, we should be able to clean this hurricane up super quick, but people are already going back to work and moving on like nothing happened. People are stranded, surrounded by water! I am so blest to have the knowledge that we are all supposed to take care of each other.
As far as food storage and water supplies go... if you don't have any, you NEED to go shopping! There is no excuse. I can almost guarantee that the two most popular items this weekend at grocery stores were bottled water and beer... that's right, I said beer. People, you are going to be taking care of your neighbors, and don't think you won't because people know which neighbors to go to, they're not stupid! Be smart. Not everyone was as fortunate as me. Another thing, have a few extra tanks of gas in your garage for when there is an emergency. Holy cow, I don't know why I feel the need to share all of this with you and maybe I'm just going off on a tangent, but man, this is ridiculous! Get off your butt and take some initiative!
