Now that I'm sitting here at my computer writing this piece, I'm here all cozy, high above any inundating waters and dry. Of course I'm talking about Hurricane Sandy in case you didn't know about the severe weather that struck the Eastern Seaboard of the United States. I'm actually enjoying my "time off," getting things done that needed to be done now that I'm basically stranded indoors until the disruptions of the storm are over. However, I can't help but wonder why some people take this so seriously. Okay, I can understand that people should be prepared, but as long as you're careful, you should be fine. I think some people take it too far and prepare like it's Y2K again.
That brings me to this person on Facebook. Now, seeing that every week she "warns" people about "catastrophes" such as earthquakes (and her definition of a dangerous earthquake is a 3.0, which I talk about more later), power outages, hurricanes, and even scours things like @NYScanner and earthquake monitors when something like a 3.8 earthquake hits. All this makes it seem like she's waiting for a disaster to happen so she can worry about it and "inform" people, or as what I call it, scaring people needlessly. Just a few facts to dispel the severity of disasters. First of all, according to the USGS, 1096 earthquakes has happened between magnitudes 3.0 and 3.9 this year in the United States so far. If you do the math, that amounts to 2.994 earthquakes per day (adjusted for this leap year), and you can look at the Richter Scale to see how insignificant an earthquake like that is, even if you feel it. This is barring any other levels of earthquakes as well as barring global earthquakes. Here's some more interesting facts to dispel some disaster myths (not for the squeamish):
- General aviation (flying) has one-tenth of an accident rate compared to automobiles (source)
- In spite of marijuana often being labeled as a dangerous drug, there have been 0 reported cases for causing death in the year 2009. Meanwhile, alcohol was responsible for killing 24,518 people that same year (source).
- A super volcano rests beneath Yellowstone National Park, which is responsible for the famous geysers such as Old Faithful. Should it ever explode again, two-thirds of the United States would become uninhabitable (source)
I decided to address her on her worries on these natural disasters because I don't appreciate people spreading panic around when there really is no need to. It's not like these people didn't know about the hurricane, not to mention how she was talking about how it already killed 21 people in the country of Jamaica. Keep in mind that this was 3-4 days before the storm would hit on Monday. Me being the blunt person that I am, I told her not to be mean or anything, but situations like these aren't that serious and that she shouldn't spend so much time worrying about things like that. Apparently, it was criticism she couldn't take, and she got offended. So then her and a few other friends started to say how I was dumb for not being prepared, to which I laughed at considering that if I had to stay indoors at that time without warning, I'd probably have enough food for about 2 weeks. She then proceeded to make fun of how I didn't have things like a backup generator and like a 2-week supply of food and water.
Yup, this kind of sums up my point nicely
Maybe I'm wrong, but I think it's a bit insulting to compare us to Jamaica. Jamaica really has it bad, considering that the region always get the worse of the hurricanes due to stronger-force hurricanes in more frequency and more severe flooding because the region is just islands surrounded by water. Okay, I understand that everything in NYC and the tri-state area is damaged like we've never seen from a hurricane and it's still pretty bad. Unfortunately, the people in Jamaica had it worse. My Puerto Rican friend put it best: come back when it's a Category 3 hurricane (it was already downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it hit landfall in New Jersey). She's used to hurricanes coming in and doing damage. In the Caribbean, people always faces the worse of any hurricanes that develop.
You think we have it bad? Take a look at what Jamaica had to go through.
So there she was, basically chastising me because I was raining on her parade due to her "warning" people. Knowing her and her "updates," she seems to be the type of person that is obsessed with looking for "disastrous" news, which I think is silly because even if it is a catastrophe, it's something you can't really escape (in fact, here's an article showing how news can manipulate you just to show it's not some hoopla I'm inventing). Being concerned is okay, but being worried doesn't help things (Rule #16: Stop worrying. You have no idea how much time you're wasting and how you're not changing things by doing that). She was too busy worrying, and I was trying to tell her how outside the US (or outside major cities in the US even), there are people who always lose power for example, and no one ever gets injured or hurt. I told her she should try camping for a week to really see what it means to rough it. She didn't want to hear it, and tried to assure me that she didn't spend all her time always looking for disasters. This is from a person who hasn't had a full-time job in over two years. She then proceeds to say everything that's "wrong with me," most of it not making any sense.
In Colombia, people don't even interrupt their coffee break for something that insignificant.
After the whole fallout, the hurricane hit soon after, and I'm sure just like with everyone, I was caught off-guard with how strong the winds and rain were. I never experienced anything like that before in New York City. My lights were flickering on and off and I actually lost power for about 3 seconds, but I didn't even really panic. Not even when the winds felt like they were going to blow my windows inward. Fortunately, the winds started to die down a bit after 11 pm, and in spite of all the hard objects I heard crashing into my roof, it was nothing serious.
I gotta admit, now that I'm seeing the damage done to power lines, trees, buildings, subways, cars, etc., it's crazy how strong the storm was. I even started checking with friends to see if they made it through okay because I saw that it was a big deal. So I admit that my friend had a certain point in that this storm was that serious. However, what would worrying have accomplished? Instead of getting defensive and saying how inconsiderate I was, I wish she would've stopped and got the real message I was trying to give her: that worrying for worry's sake doesn't help.
It's funny because after everything was said and done, I wrote on her Facebook wall asking if she was okay in spite of all the insults she hurled my way. She didn't answer, and I knew she was okay because I saw some of her activity on Facebook while I was on the day after the storm. It gave me the impression that maybe I was right about her, that she did spend all her time worrying instead of giving people the courtesy to know that she's safe and checking if others are safe as well. I guess that's what happens when you're too caught up within yourself and your emotions. She had all the worry, but none of the regard for others that were trying to look out for her. That kind of defeats the purpose, don't you think?
That must've been one helluva hangover!
Which brings me to another point: power outages. Just because you don't have power, it's not the end of the world. I've been in places where the power would go out every week. It's always just another day. When people freak out like if it's the end of the world like during the Northeast blackout of 2003, it makes me laugh. There's even shirts about surviving the blackout for crying out loud. Aren't we getting a little bit too touchy here? Yes, people sometimes need to rely on machines for health reasons. Guess what? So does everyone else in the world, even in places where the power goes out every week and they manage to survive. With some careful planning, we all can.
But in the end, it's important to know when to be concerned, when to be careful and be prepared and WITHOUT worrying. We can't always depend on certain accommodations (this article sums up my point nicely). At the same time, when there's a catastrophe like there was just now in New York, it's important for everyone to band together and help those in need. I'm glad that at least all my family and friends are accounted for more or less, and I wouldn't be surprised if I go on some volunteer jobs to help rebuild NYC. Either way, I don't believe in just doing something like telling people how "dangerous" natural disasters are. Sometimes, you can't avoid it like what happened with NYC. Virtually everyone was physically unharmed by the storm, but the damage to the infrastructure of the city is still great. If a difference is to be made, it's all up to us to enact the actions that will spur change. Just saying we'll do it is usually not enough, just like telling people about dangers in the world ad infinitum doesn't help.
Rule #17: Inspire change through positive encouragement and enact change through action.
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