I'm not going to waste premium Shy Drunk Real Estate picking on Jim Cantore. He does enough damage himself. But I do think there is a point to be made here. I'm a news junkie.
Living on the Outer Banks is great, but it makes me feel detached from the rest of the world. Sustainability, the Middle East Peace Process, floods, oil spills, disasters, public policy, etc. Sure we have our issues, and we discuss them. But, the news is seldom made here, until the weather gets weird that is.
All my life, my involvement in anything has served to delegitimize it in my mind. My first real job was as a teacher, but I didn't have a teaching certificate, so somehow it seemed that I was taking advantage of some colossal loop hole. My second job was for a YMCA resident camp but seemed too fun to be a legitimate job. Now, I supervise the construction of gigantic vacation homes, but somehow, because I go surfing on my lunch break--often longer--it doesn't feel like a real job. You know the kind your guidance counselor said you should get.
So, I was just involved with a hurricane. Not my first storm. by far. However, it was the first storm I owned property, other than a car, and had a family to consider. Thursday was stressful. Just getting around here during a tourist evacuation can be a chore. Getting houses battened down, and taking care of my own family was a full day's work. In short, a real hurricane came and went last night. I'm looking forward to two days worth of cleaning up downed trees in my yard alone.
But, it wasn't that bad. It was dangerous, it lasted longer than expected, and it kept us up. It threatened our property. But, it wasn't bad.
This afternoon, after watching some surfers towing into (with a jet-ski) smaller waves than we had all been paddling into in the week preceding the storm, I sat in the truck and listened to some financial news show on NPR. Then I thought of Jim Cantore. We all want to be listened to. Maybe my existence is not a delegitimizing force. Maybe life just is what it is. Sometimes it's news worthy, and when it's not, all those guys still gotta earn their keep. Tough business. When there is some news, it only makes sense that they hype it.
So, a news junkie, I'll will probably remain. But even my favorite commentators will be wearing "Jim Cantore Suit," in my mind. Maybe it's not that I crave information. Maybe it's just that everywhere you are do not live seems a little mysterious, and therefore more interesting, than where you do live. So, maybe the coming hurricane, the coming economic double dip, the impending conservative take-over, and yes--even a dirt bag hippie must admit--the environmental destruction, is all coming. It might just not pack as big a punch as we are told.
So, be prepared, tie down your shit, and if it looks like it's really going to hit the fan, get out of town. But just remember. The guy in the "Jim Cantore Suit" has a job, it's to scare the shit out of you. So you'll tune in for the latest update.
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