Ir's amazing what the information media will do to turn a simple act of nature into a major spectacle and event. A hurricane has formed and it's making its way up the East Coast of the United States of America. To hear all the hype about it -- they even have given it a name: Sandy -- you would think that the world as we know it will cease to exist!
Here in New York, the mayor, the governor and all elected officials are making sure that everyone knows what to do to stay safe, and we applaud them for it, but the hype in the media, about what catastrophic things might happen is getting too much. I was visiting relatives, and had to cut short the visit because all trains, railroads and buses would stop running at 7:00 PM.
Now, the good thing about living in New York City, is that (thank goodness!) you can walk to most places, but if it's nasty, windy, rainy weather -- you would rather take the subway or the bus. But, no.... now everything is being shut down. Many of us believe that part of this over-cautious actions has something to do with politics. As we have had really bad storms in the past and the transportation system has never been completely shut down, but this being a very important election year, well...who knows.
The other thing that amuses me is how people, I guess pushed by all the hype on TV, radio, Internet, etc., are flocking to supermarkets and buying everything they think they will need in case the big disaster strikes.
It was really annoying, when I went to do my usual Sunday shopping, for just a few items, the parking lot was full, and there were very long lines at the checkout counters. I had to wait nearly 45 minutes to pay for four items, because people had whole shopping carts full of milk, bread, cases of bottled water, meats, etc, in huge quantities -- just in case. In case of what? If the power goes out---all that stuff will spoil...they are not thinking clearly.
Anyway, it has become sort of like a ritual now, they are saturating the media with this, to the point that you really wish that the whole thing would just come and get it over with. I know of people that actually were disappointed when the other big hurricane, Irene, went by, and the disaster was not a bad as the hype had predicted. Let's see how this one plays out.
