IRENE: Why Are You So Annoyed By All The Media Coverage??

Forty-eight hours out from Irene’s entree, and twenty-four hours after her exit, both local events and reactions are all over the road. 

While unaccustomed to, and weary from the 24/7 media coverage,  this no-so-mini-rant comes down on those whining about it. 

In fact, I argue their annoyance was preventable, and largely self-induced.  (And before anyone gets their panties all knotted up, please note the use of both singular and  plural pronouns) 

 In our super-caffeinated, overly-stimulated world, too many have lost the ability to  prioritize and unplug themselves from the stream when appropriate. 

Information is king, and yes there is a lot of it;  but while we are all looking for ways to get/stay ahead in business, we need to look at how our own other actions  fuel the beast.  If our brains are  too busy responding to texts, tweets, pokes, prods, alerts and the like, it’s information overload, and we find ourselves unable to pull back and differentiate.

Weather is a lot like real estate: hyper-local, and very individual-one’s experience is  largely predicated to their own mindset, and many other unique circumstances. Responsibility is involved. You need to be knowledgeable and prepared;  ready to act, while maintaining respect (a healthy fear?) of the unpredictability of the process.

And yes, there will always  be hype, and yahoos who behave badly-whether by way of price gouging, or low-ball offers, but loss of life is not on the table in real estate.

The sad, and singular death here in Westchester was not a direct result of a random act of nature; rather it was a foolish, ignorant act of 5 young thrill-seekers getting on an inflatable boat. They not only risked their own lives, they risked the lives of those trying to save them (beyond the death of one of the five, three first-responders were injured).

Look-publicizing (to justify)  the use of tools that have been long-paid for is not a new thing. I am reminded of  the section in Arlo Guthrie’s classic Alice’s Restaurant, about one-third in, where he describes the evidence-gathering process for his littering arrest in 1960’s Stockbridge MA, including the use of aerial photography.

Westchester has been my home my entire life,  hurricanes and tornadoes are largely uncharted territory. Saturday night the entire county was under a tornado watch. While we had a bag packed, Doug and I took turns sleeping, thinking one of us should be aware and alert if one suddenly materialized.

Thankfully it did not, but I was grateful for the real-time information that could have saved us precious moments if one did.

There are many good reasons someone would need to be readily available, and/or connected  24/7; whether you had loved ones traveling, or as the storm drew nearer, this weekend was one of them. 

BUT

Perhaps it might be time to re-evaluate the power we give to media and our devices, and the stuff  we choose to fill  our brain with?    I’m just sayin’….