 |
| |||||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||||
|
BBHQ Boomer Essays: |
| Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of each. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays. |
|
Dateline Tampa, Florida... May 31, 2000....
This story is aimed at the residents of the Tampa Bay area. But unless you're in sight of the ocean or the Gulf, this applies to you, too. For you visitors who are not threatened by hurricanes, here's what you would have to fear most if you were down here:
It's that time of year again... the start of another hurricane season. And right on schedule, the local television news and public service departments will crank out their voluminous, annual hurricane preparedness material. They'll remind us repeatedly of how devastating hurricanes can be. They'll have graphs, charts, and stunning video of the most destructive hurricanes ever to hit any patch of land in the United States. They'll remind us that two hurricanes hit the outer banks of North Carolina last year.
They'll warn us, not once but dozens of times, to stock up on batteries, candles, bottled water, diapers, and canned food. They'll tell us to top off our gas tanks, refill prescriptions, send Fido to a boarding kennel on high-ground, and empty out our checking accounts at the first sign of a threatening hurricane. It's all part of their civic duty. And if they can work us in to a frenzy to the point that we are locked into their non-stop, life-saving news coverage, all the better.
Of course, their scripted material will be full of phrases like "could possibly," "might cause," and "If this happens...." But they'll fail to put into perspective the probability of a major hurricane hitting the bay area and the number of people who are actually in danger in such case. Promoting their upcoming hurricane preparedness special, one television station warns us: "Learn why this year's threats could be worse than ever!" That is just plain irresponsible.
If the media really wanted to properly inform the public, they would also address these questions:
|
When was the last time that a hurricane with sustained winds of more than
100 miles per hour came directly through the bay area? How many times
in the last hundred years have we had a direct hit by such a
hurricane? When was the last time that a devastating hurricane made it impossible to buy gasoline in the bay area for more than two days? When was the last time that a significant portion of the bay area (say... 30% of us) was without electricity for more than two days due to a hurricane? When was the last time that telephone service was unavailable to a major portion of the bay area for more than two days due to a hurricane? When was the last time that our water system was contaminated for more than two days due to a hurricane? When was the last time that Tampa International Airport was completely shut down for more than two days due to a hurricane? When was the last time that that threatened storm surge they talk so much about put the downtown Tampa business district under 20 feet of water? When was the last time that all of the homes in any bay area neighborhood more than a tenth of a mile inland from the bay or the gulf were unlivable for more than two days due to a hurricane? When was the last time that a hurricane smashing through the bay area killed more people than the number who die in traffic accidents over the Memorial Day holiday weekend? When was the last time that bay area grocery stores ran out of canned food because of a hurricane (rather than the overstated threat of a hurricane)? When was the last time that more than half of the bay area ATM's and banks were closed for more than two days due to a hurricane? When was the last time that any local shelter had to house more than 100 people for more than two days because of a hurricane? How much money is lost each time we close down schools and businesses because of even the most minor hurricane threat? How much does it cost to evacuate hundreds of thousands of bay area residents because of the threat of a hurricane?
|
(For you visitors in distant places, the answer to all those "When was the last time...." questions is "never!")
Granted, hurricane hysteria is good for business... for the local television and radio stations, Bay Area Plywood, Ace Hardware and Home Depot. The hysteria does a job on new residents and those with minuscule memories. But the truth is that even when a big one comes our way, those of us who live more than a tenth of a mile inland in any structure stronger than a mobile home are likely to be much safer in our houses with a can of Mountain Dew and a box of Oreo cookies than on the roads with three million motorists in a state of media-induced panic. We'll be far better off spending twenty bucks for a good book than two hundred bucks for a cheesy motel room in Sebring. In fact, the preparation that most of us need to undertake for the hurricane season takes about as much time as it does to clean the gas grill in the back yard.
If the bay area news outlets were truly interested in properly informing the public, they would emphasize this information in their hurricane-preparedness campaign.
Fat chance, huh? Too much money to be made by scaring the public.
|
|
|
|
If you like what we're doing here at BBHQ, please help us by buying stuff through our link to Amazon.com:
| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
 |
|
The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
|
 | ||
 
|
|   |
Copyright © 2001-2008, Baby Boomer HeadQuarters - WWW.BBHQ.COM - All rights reserved.
