The Storm of the Century Approaches
Weather forecasters are predicting that winter storm Nemo (I can’t even tell you how much I wish this would have been winter storm Orko—I’m a big He-Man fan) might be the largest storm to hit the Northeast since the Civil War. And while way back in early October of 2012 it was easy to laugh in the face of weather forecasts and feel superior to any wild predictions being made, we now live post-Sandy and are thus forced to maintain a certain level of respect for all weathermen. Even Al Roker. Even him.
Now, it’s looking like New York City won’t get the worst of the storm. It looks like Boston will get the worst of the storm. To which I say, cool. It should be nice for Boston to have something to think about other than the usual Boston thoughts which revolve around, um, I don’t know. I really try to avoid feeling any sort of empathy for or understanding of people from Boston. It’s not natural. But, still, I wish them luck. Good luck, Boston!
So, how should we prepare for the storm here in Brooklyn? Well, you know the drill by now, right? Stock up on food and water and batteries and hunker down. It’s funny because it seems like knowing all this stuff has become second nature, which, I don’t remember ever hearing about doomsday-like preparations for storms when I was younger. Is that because storms weren’t widely assumed to all be heralds of the apocalypse? Or is it because my parents shielded me from worrying about things like this and assumed that burden themselves? Does the fact that I now know to have actual food in my apartment so that I don’t have to order Thai food at the height of a storm mean that I have finally grown up? Am I really an adult? Are we all adults? Is this what it means to take personal responsibility for things, even including my own welfare and the welfare of others? Consider my mind blown.
Follow Kristin Iversen on twitter @kmiversen
