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Thursday, November 1, 2012

Cheryl Saban Ph.D.: The Best We Can Be

Cheryl Saban Ph.D.: The Best We Can Be
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2 comments:

  1. RAYLOKENovember 1, 2012 at 1:56 PM

    ENGAGET as in ENABLED to perform ACCORDINGLY ; ...Things are in recovery mode today. Some buses are active, and many businesses are open. The UN is still closed, but the US Mission has reopened, and I'm going back to work. But everywhere there is evidence that Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc in New York City. The Frankenstorm lived up to its name -- it was truly a monster. High winds, flying debris, downed power-lines, high tides, flooding -- this storm packed it all. The most devastating result of this hybrid super-storm was the tragic loss of life. Though there were numerous advance warnings, hundreds of evacuations, and a mad dash to stock up on emergency supplies, the intensity of this storm took most of us by surprise.

    People were literally flooded out of their homes. The wind ripped the siding off of houses, and tore trees out of the ground. I was one of the lucky ones -- my apartment building never lost power, but much of lower Manhattan went dark, and the subways and many of the tunnels were flooded. My family and friends on the West coast were understandably freaked out -- watching the play-by-play on the news -- they had no sense of my proximity to the crane swinging precariously on top of the sky-rise, or the water rushing over the railings in Battery Park. I was several blocks from both of these major crises centers, but still, they worried.

    As a temporary transplant from the West coast where a change of seasons amounts to nothing more dramatic than a few rainy days, weathering this storm has revealed a great deal about New York and the people who live here, that I feel compelled to share. I suspect that when one speaks of mass power outages in a large city, there could be concern about security issues. And I suppose there could have been some of that. But I didn't see it. From my vantage point, all I observed was that this storm brought out the very best in people. From the kids in my apartment building who brought in friends who'd lost power, to the shopkeepers who welcomed people in to use their electrical plugs to charge their cell phones.

    The resiliency of the human spirit is astonishing. Though the wind howled and whipped around the streets like invisible speed racers, making umbrellas difficult if not useless, there were always people on the streets, a few taxis, and a couple of stores open. As soon as the weather calmed down, I was among the many curious individuals who ventured out to get some fresh air and assess the damage of the neighborhood. A block from my building, in the local Duane Reade store, there were perhaps a dozen people sitting on the floor near electrical plugs with their cell phones plugged into their chargers. These folks migrated here from a few blocks away, where power outages had occurred. Their shoes were wet, and they looked as if they'd been through a rough night, but they weren't particularly unhappy. Instead they were chatting, huddled on the floor in pairs, charging their phones, munching on snacks. Other people were patiently waiting in long lines to buy whatever convenience foods remained on the shelves. Everywhere people were friendly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RAYLOKENovember 1, 2012 at 2:00 PM

    ENGADGET ACCORDINGLY, ... ENLIGHTENED PLUS EMPOWERED ... to Function and PERFORM in ACCORD! === ENGADGET as in ENABLED to perform ACCORDINGLY ; ...Things are in recovery mode today. Some buses are active, and many businesses are open. The UN is still closed, but the US Mission has reopened, and I'm going back to work. But everywhere there is evidence that Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc in New York City. The Frankenstorm lived up to its name -- it was truly a monster. High winds, flying debris, downed power-lines, high tides, flooding -- this storm packed it all. The most devastating result of this hybrid super-storm was the tragic loss of life. Though there were numerous advance warnings, hundreds of evacuations, and a mad dash to stock up on emergency supplies, the intensity of this storm took most of us by surprise.

    People were literally flooded out of their homes. The wind ripped the siding off of houses, and tore trees out of the ground. I was one of the lucky ones -- my apartment building never lost power, but much of lower Manhattan went dark, and the subways and many of the tunnels were flooded. My family and friends on the West coast were understandably freaked out -- watching the play-by-play on the news -- they had no sense of my proximity to the crane swinging precariously on top of the sky-rise, or the water rushing over the railings in Battery Park. I was several blocks from both of these major crises centers, but still, they worried.

    As a temporary transplant from the West coast where a change of seasons amounts to nothing more dramatic than a few rainy days, weathering this storm has revealed a great deal about New York and the people who live here, that I feel compelled to share. I suspect that when one speaks of mass power outages in a large city, there could be concern about security issues. And I suppose there could have been some of that. But I didn't see it. From my vantage point, all I observed was that this storm brought out the very best in people. From the kids in my apartment building who brought in friends who'd lost power, to the shopkeepers who welcomed people in to use their electrical plugs to charge their cell phones.

    The resiliency of the human spirit is astonishing. Though the wind howled and whipped around the streets like invisible speed racers, making umbrellas difficult if not useless, there were always people on the streets, a few taxis, and a couple of stores open. As soon as the weather calmed down, I was among the many curious individuals who ventured out to get some fresh air and assess the damage of the neighborhood. A block from my building, in the local Duane Reade store, there were perhaps a dozen people sitting on the floor near electrical plugs with their cell phones plugged into their chargers. These folks migrated here from a few blocks away, where power outages had occurred. Their shoes were wet, and they looked as if they'd been through a rough night, but they weren't particularly unhappy. Instead they were chatting, huddled on the floor in pairs, charging their phones, munching on snacks. Other people were patiently waiting in long lines to buy whatever convenience foods remained on the shelves. Everywhere people were friendly.

    ReplyDelete

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