**If you haven't watched Frozen several times, you will not get anything out of this**
My daughter identifies with Elsa, to the point of completely ignoring Anna. Anna is sweet and goofy; fun and engaging. Elsa is a flawed badass who struggles through her own problems. A risk taker. If Elsa existed in a temperate climate today, she would be a biker. She'd trade in the braid for a brain bucket and the dress for some leathers and hit the road. Sure it's dangerous, but it's a fulfilling way to live. You learn a lot about yourself when you make your decisions less than six inches above pavement racing by at seventy miles per hour. Usually you find out that you aren't quite the badass you thought, but so be it. Knowledge is power.
In other news, I read today about New York State's program to buy out residents of Staten Island, who's homes were damaged in Hurricane Sandy. The article was interesting, and mildly nuanced, but the comments on the story were not. So much, "taxpayers subsidizing rich risk takers etc." I know little about coastal New York, but we are equally besmirched here in Dare County, NC. Few people who don't know this will read this blog, but, I must say: Emergency disaster relief is not flood insurance. And disaster relief usually comes in the form of subsidized loans. So, in the world of bail-outs, flood insurance and FEMA aren't really bailing anyone out. (They are spending money, but that is another issue.) Another interesting fact: flood insurance only covers loss above base flood elevation. So accepting grandfathered, repetitive loss properties(which are the minority), no one is really behaving irresponsibly--at least in Dare County NC, which is all I can speak about.
Do we take a risk living here? Certainly, risk that is typically borne by ourselves. Why do we admire Elsa, the badass, ice-flinging, self styled risk taking princes. But then we are more than happy to disparage those who choose to pay ridiculous insurance premiums and endure astronomical cost of living, to live by the sea. If you asked an insurance adjuster about a person riding a motorcycle or living by the sea--and she answered honestly--she'd tell you that those persons are a potential gold mine. All that agent could tell you is that someone who chose to do both of those things would be a real cash cow for the old company.
Risk is a bitch, but it makes the world go round. It makes us money and it makes us interesting. You win some, you lose some. I get that. When someone is taking different risks than you, it's pretty easy to ridicule their decision making process. As you can learn a lot about yourself near the pavement, you can learn just as much near the sea. Ask yourself: "What would Elsa Do?"
