As much as I would love to blog about last week’s readings, there is a much more pertinent topic of discussion on my mind this weekend; 6 inches of snow or as the national news media likes to call it “super-mega-deathstar-stay-the-fuck-home-storm nemo”. On Staten Island I got to personally witness gas lines going down all our major avenues and boulevards and lines in our supermarkets that took hours to get through. I don’t know if it’s shell-shock from Hurricane (actually a tropical storm) Sandy or just a result of over-sensationalized news reporting of weather conditions. More than likely it is a combination of both. I’m not exactly sure what makes snow so terrifying for people that they think they need to stockpile food in a terrorist cell-like bunker when they could just stay home with some cocoa, their loved ones, and wait til the morning to shovel and go about their business as usual. If we were to follow this train of thought, let’s consider the people who shovel their sidewalks as snow is still coming down (I don’t mean to offend if you are a follower of this practice) I have witnessed my neighbor do this every single year to no avail. Hey buddy, wait til tomorrow, that inch of snow you peeled off the ground is gonna be right back there momentarily.
As an aside from my rant about the “impending-doom-for-us-all-hide-yo-children-storm nemo” I would like to mention an interesting fact about clownfish. When a clown fish’s mate dies, it has the capability to change it’s gender to reproduce with its offspring. This means that throughout the entirety of “Finding Nemo” we were watching a clownfish chase after his son to change gender and make more clownfish babies. Ah Disney……..
If you were thinking that I lackadasically wrote this post an hour before it was due, and that I spent most of my weekend frolicking in the snow like a small child you’d be right. But since I don’t want to look bad next to my fellow professional blogging peers I feel obligated to at least mention some of the reading from these first few weeks of class. One concept that particularly stuck with me from all of the enlightenment readings was one that Wollstonecraft mentioned in “A Vindication of the Rights of Women” was that the pursuit of beauty keeps us from achieving equality. I really like this concept because I believe that it is most definitely true. However, it is a concept that I feel can be applied to both genders, if we were creatures of utility then everything we wore would have some sort of use to it. Unfortunately, today we are all victims of “fashion” and pursue the aesthetically pleasing holy land of having our peers be attracted to us because of the paint we splash on our faces or the various animal pieces we cover our bodies in. None of which serves any real purpose anymore, can someone explain to me why you would be wearing dress shoes when there is snow and slush on the ground? They ain’t got no traction. Cop yourself some boots because you slippin.
Yeah the prevalent idea in this day and age is that you’ve got to be universally attractive; you’ve gotta be so hot that everyone wants you. Sure that’s great, but it’s not necessary. That’s why I fear for the generations after us. Are the future political debates gonna be focused on who wore the same suit as the last guy or are they going to focus on world issues? I’m not sure where I was going with this but I hope I got some kind of point across. I hope the people of the future aren’t all air-headed models.
Ever heard of the ever-so-popular phrase “better safe than sorry”? The people that you criticize at the beginning of this extensive train of thought were simply taking precaution. Groceries are a necessity regardless, so what harm does it do to stock up on some goods? Also, the gas issue during sandy will forever leave a scar on drivers, so once again, why not take precaution? The media does exaggerate sometimes, but hey that’s life, predictions won’t always be accurate. I must admit that the shoe thing was quite funny though. They slippin for sure.
I’m destined to believe that big name companies pay the media to hype storms up like this. As the poster above stated, “Better safe than sorry”, but to a limit, Sandy was one thing, knocking power out for weeks/months for some, destroying homes and such. I personally live on long island where I also work in a grocery store, I witnessed the day of the storm customers cursing and screaming at each other over food, I even had a customer scream at me in the middle of the store for not having bananas like I was hiding them from her, she was out of her mind, stocking up on cans of tuna, sliced ham and Friendly’s Forbidden Chocolate Ice cream. Nonetheless, pertaining to the novel section I also noticed the same kind of fad, I worked the day after the storm from 1230-9, and for the 50 or so customers that came in, they were all dressed like they were going to a formal event or something, dress pants, Italian leather shoes, vests and ties, even in a time of crisis like this storm, people don’t want to be seen without their Louis Vuitton bags or Gucci shirts, good look getting the salt out of those.
First and foremost, the little fact about a clownfish is hilarious and very interesting. Secondly, I don’t fully support your comment about people exaggerating because being safe is definitely better than being sorry and yes I do believe that Hurricane Sandy has still left a lot of people in a very emotional like state especially for those who lost a lot. So stocking up necessities isn’t a bad thing, especially can foods that can last a very very long time. Lastly, being a home owner I understand why some people choose to shovel the snow because quite frankly, have you shoveled a foot of snow? It’s very heavy especially if a lot people have walked over it and made it kind-of like in a icey-hard state. So personally, I too shovel the snow even though I know that it’s still snowing and that I know that I’m going to have to shovel the snow again but might as well ease my work for the next morning. I, then sprinkle a little of ice-melter salt so that my tenants don’t have a hard time too and the snow doesn’t pile up.
FEAR! It can motivate or it can completely debilitate. American media is certainly guilty of using fear to draw in viewers. Every storm is historic, ready to wreck chaos the likes of which have never been seen… ever. Remember “Snowmaggedon 2010”? I don’t as I was abroad enjoying warm, sunny weather. It did look pretty bad from the news coverage I saw and according to those stateside at the time. I hate to appear like I’m attacking you but I must agree with my peers: it is better to be safe than sorry. I’m sure there are those who exaggerate and clean out the ice cream section (I’m partial to Häagen-Dazs myself). Also, people are still trying to overcome the effects of Sandy. So that must also be taken into consideration.
Lastly, where or how you found that clownfish factoid is less important than the fact that it is real. Disney FTL… again.