Sandy

Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum

Help Support Professional Engineer & PE Exam Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Friend in NJ was able to find gas to make the trip to visit the wife and baby who are in PA staying with her parents until the power is restored. No timetable has even been projected.

 
ngnrd - PE said:
Two words for the people that are affected by SuperStorm Sandy.

1. Personal

2. Responsibility
I have seen lots of personal responsibility following the storm. Judging by the comments on this thread, and personal stories I have heard elsewhere from people in Rockaway. Most people are taking personal responsibility...neighbors helping neighbors, family taking relatives in...The damage is done; people ARE picking up their lives WITH the help of others; people serving others in need. Shoveling mud out of basements, checking on elderly people who were unable to leave, laying out warm clothes to dry (not washing and drying because they have no power and no water), and food trucks serving free hot meals to workers and residents who have otherwise been living on those canned goods that they took personal responsibility for and stocked up on before the storm hit...

It is your personal responsibility to help others in need...

 
ngnrd - PE said:
I have seen lots of personal responsibility following the storm.
I think you're confusing personal responsibility for something else... community service, maybe?
I think MA kinda summed it up.... some people feel like it's their personal responsibility to help the unfortunate, others will look down on them and blame them for their own misfortunes and then there are the people who just ignore things and feel like it's 'not their problem'. It's going to depend on the individuals morals and how they feel.

Obviously, I get really, really annoyed and apparently come across like I have a chip on my shoulder when I feel like someone is judging another based on their misfortunes.

Depending on your take, there are 5 basic human needs. Water, Food, Energy, Shelter and Security. In today's society, we expect our government to provide the security, and our infrastructure to provide the water and energy. Our homes provide shelter and we buy food. But when someone has to leave their home and then returns to nothing, the really have lost the provisions of all 5. Even if they return and their home is still standing, their basic needs aren't all being met. I just don't feel like we should be judging those people and saying that they should have been prepared and now they need to deal with it... and if it had been us, then we would have been better off.

How every you feel or whatever your morals, I still say, it's not nice to rub salt into the open wounds of others... it's actually, kinda just mean.

 
How every you feel or whatever your morals, I still say, it's not nice to rub salt into the open wounds of others... it's actually, kinda just mean.
Not to mention pointless and a sign of either poor judgment or poor character.

 
I'm in nj and haven't had one of these storms at least in my adult life. Where I'm at there's just trees and wires down and the residents are all up in arms over loss of power. I went with my fire company to help out a shore fire department over the weekend and found their town basically a complete loss. What I've found really interesting is that events like these either bring out the worst or the best in people. There's been so much looting of electronics from boats and personal crap from houses in areas that were evacuated. Generators are being stolen from the houses upland, while people are sleeping. Then there's the side of the fence that I live on- the people with the sense of social responsibility. These people are giving away stuff, offering to help others. It's certainly not a personal responsibility to take care of others, especially when they don't help themselves. I think it's a bad idea to live below sea level of within a flood zone, but people do. I think it's a waste to rebuild those areas. But. Rubbing the salt in the wound of someone that has lost everything because they did chose to live there is wrong. But that's coming from someone that's more proud of firefighting certifications than the bs, ms, and PE combined, so I might just be screwed up.

 
Depending on your take, there are 5 basic human needs. Water, Food, Energy, Shelter and Security. In today's society, we expect our government to provide the security, and our infrastructure to provide the water and energy. Our homes provide shelter and we buy food.
You know, it wasn't all that long ago that we provided those ourselves too. I still know plenty of folks on wells and septic tanks.

And, a lot of folks still provide their own personal security. You kinda have to out in the sticks.

Sometimes I think it made us as a country stronger to be self sufficient. I.m bad with my hands, but I remember my dad and grandad tackling stuff themselves that I know I couldn't do. The reality is I could, but I'm lazy and it isn't expedient. Point is, though, I gave up on that willingly. Maybe I shouldn't have. Maybe we all shouldn't have.

But that's for a different thread I reckon.

 
How every you feel or whatever your morals, I still say, it's not nice to rub salt into the open wounds of others... it's actually, kinda just mean.
Not to mention pointless and a sign of either poor judgment or poor character.
Poor raisins how my grandparents would have described it. Society has changed, and not for the better. You see it a lot more frequently, and , frankly, the media promotes it.

Again, another topic for another time. Sorry.

 
The gas lines are gonna be nasty later as people fill up in advance of the Nor'easter coming in tomorrow.

We're supposed to get a nice winter mix by me tomorrow night.

Why can't a winter mix be something like a meal that includes cranberries, squash, and a hearty stew with some root veggies. It's be much more pleasant.

 
Sorry...I still think it's a responsibility to serve others in need. Even if you are morally outraged that those others have managed to get themselves into trouble in the first place.

Clearly, I am in the minority on this. :(

 
But what if you only prepared well enough to provide for yourself and your family? Would I be considered an asshat if I didn't provide help to others because the only help I have is dedicated to my family?

 
Watching the news, I'm struck by the fact that so few people seem to have fireplaces. I'd think they'd be common up there.

 
It's been abnormally cold here for the past several days too. Dipping down into the upper teens at night. More like mid December weather than early November weather.

 
Back
Top