Blizzard 2010 Scare
I've always been fascinated with the study of human behavior... part of the joy of living in NYC for me came from riding the subway and watching others (very discretely). Well, I wait for days like today to revel in the observation of people's reactions.
Today, I flipped on the news while getting ready and heard about a nasty storm that is supposed to white out most of Utah. The reporters on TV sounded genuinely worried because today and tomorrow are heavy travel days and if this storm was what it claimed to be, the risk in traveling would be greater.
About 10am today I got an text from BYU's emergency system that warned me of the upcoming storm and noted that all services/classes would be shut down at 5pm. I nodded as I read the text and didn't pay much attention as I went back to work.
Well, 2pm... a woman in my office stood up and said, "Did you get the email, they are shutting down campus as 3pm and tomorrow due to the severity of the storm." Keep in mind that not a single flake has fallen from the sky yet, the clouds are high and the temperatures in the 40's. We all started talking about it, when all of our phones texts went off again from BYU's emergency system alerting us of what my co-worker has just said.
I was high-fiving people and chuckling as I relished in the fact that I had mandatory vacation, for which I didn't have to use a vacation day. But dutifully packed up my things (with everyone else) and headed home.
When I got home, I decided that I needed to run to the store, because if we were blocked in I needed a few things to make my required Thanksgiving items. Bad idea... kinda.
I went to Smiths, and there was no parking to be found, I had to park at RC Willey to just find a space. I got in and this is what I saw:
I did a quick scan to see if I could tell what people were buying and it was mostly junk food and Thanksgiving items. So from what I could tell, in the midst of a panic guilty pleasures are automatically guilt-free and a necessity, because if you're going down, then at least you can do so with unlimited calories of pure heaven? Also, if you are stuck in a house for days with other people, the one thing you need is an endless supply of movies so that you don't have to actually interact with them, thus safely maintaining our isolated virtual "smart" worlds. And lastly, that Thanksgiving Stove Top stuffing is worth the personal safety risk of being trampled at the store and not out-running a storm that has caused half of the city to go home early. Nice marketing work Stove Top.
Now, the irony of all of this is that I'm sitting at home typing this and it's 5pm, and still no snow. In all my years of working at BYU, I've only seen them shut down campus once, and that really was a blizzard, and it was in the midst of the blizzard that they send everyone home... understood. But never before a snow storm hits... I wonder who is in on the prank...
Today, I flipped on the news while getting ready and heard about a nasty storm that is supposed to white out most of Utah. The reporters on TV sounded genuinely worried because today and tomorrow are heavy travel days and if this storm was what it claimed to be, the risk in traveling would be greater.
About 10am today I got an text from BYU's emergency system that warned me of the upcoming storm and noted that all services/classes would be shut down at 5pm. I nodded as I read the text and didn't pay much attention as I went back to work.
Well, 2pm... a woman in my office stood up and said, "Did you get the email, they are shutting down campus as 3pm and tomorrow due to the severity of the storm." Keep in mind that not a single flake has fallen from the sky yet, the clouds are high and the temperatures in the 40's. We all started talking about it, when all of our phones texts went off again from BYU's emergency system alerting us of what my co-worker has just said.
I was high-fiving people and chuckling as I relished in the fact that I had mandatory vacation, for which I didn't have to use a vacation day. But dutifully packed up my things (with everyone else) and headed home.
When I got home, I decided that I needed to run to the store, because if we were blocked in I needed a few things to make my required Thanksgiving items. Bad idea... kinda.
I went to Smiths, and there was no parking to be found, I had to park at RC Willey to just find a space. I got in and this is what I saw:
- Huge lines at the Red Box DVD rental
- Huge lines at the grocery check out.
- And a few ladies in the "self-check out" that had a whole cart full of Thanksgiving groceries (but that's just my major pet peeve)
Now, the irony of all of this is that I'm sitting at home typing this and it's 5pm, and still no snow. In all my years of working at BYU, I've only seen them shut down campus once, and that really was a blizzard, and it was in the midst of the blizzard that they send everyone home... understood. But never before a snow storm hits... I wonder who is in on the prank...
Comments
But when the city announces that things will be shut down for the hurricane the store shelves get stripped bare within hours... and the gas stations run out of gas within hours. It's crazy!