Wednesday, September 7, 2016

I will not lecture you, go ahead, have a tantrum, you might feel better.

For those 8 thousand still without power 6 days from Hermine, my heart is with you. I will not lecture you on not being grateful enough. This is frustrating, disappointing, inconvenient, scary, and maddening. I hear you roar and I roar with you. My Mother is one of you. I will not take away your right to grumble, complain, stomp your foot and generally grouse about the situation. You have a right to do that. I know that almost all of you are grateful that it was not worse, that your abode although powerless, is still intact.

You have had to throw out your food, or try and maintain enough ice to keep it going, or listen to the drone of the generator possibly not even yours. Maybe you are lucky enough to have a generator, you have had to make several trips by now to get more gas to keep it going. It is noisy! You are trying to keep your windows open to catch a breeze. Neighbors have been generous and sharing for the most part.

Yes, we have been fortunate that the weather has not turned horribly hot and more humid. We have not had daily thunderstorms that make living without air conditioning or even a fan unbearable. However, it is still September in Tallahassee and it gets hot. Your hot water in your hot water heater is now depleted. Fortunately we do have water in Tallahassee and that was not interrupted, unless of course you had a well, then you had even more problems. A cold shower is still a cold shower. It is no fun to get ready for school or work with out feeling clean and refreshed. We won't even mention that morning cup of coffee that gets most of us going. Yes, these are mostly not life threatening, they are indeed inconvenient. Who likes to be inconvenienced?

Some of us are not eternal optimists. We do not generally rise from our bed with a smile on our face and a song in our hearts. I had a roommate like that in college and it was maddening. Some of us need to shake off the night time fog and reorient. It won't help to lecture us on being happier. It doesn't help to say..."Look at me, I am happy and uncomplaining... you should be more like me." It is kind of like when you are in a big argument with your husband and he says..."Calm down". Nothing will rise my hackles more. Maybe he is right but that is not the time to say it. A friend of mine has a great saying.."You don't pick up the dog shit while it is still soft and warm"

There has been some crazy conspiracy stories and faulting of government here and there and that is always going to happen. I am not going get into that kind of crazy. I am just talking about the people that just want their power back on so that they can get on with their lives.

When we are all back in our cozy bungalows and we are safe and cool then we can reflect on what we could have done better as individuals to be more prepared. We can do that as a city as well. But hey, let some of us have a tantrum or two in the meantime.

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