Tuesday, August 29, 2006

I'm An Idiot For Living Here?

I have had to listen to the anniversary news on Katrina all day today. The thing that has fried my bacon has been all the comments over the years about how could I live in Kalifornia with all those earthquakes?

What "all those earthquakes"? The last one I felt was the Northridge 6.7 back in 1997. There have been others in the area, but a UPS truck driving down the street shakes more. It's been 9 years since my life was disrupted by the ground moving.

What about you idiots that live in the Gulf Region? Every year you have, what, maybe five hurricanes blow through. Even if they don't hit you directly, you board up, pack up and move out.

How about you that choose to live in "Tornado Alley"? You know that many are coming every year, but you're still there aren't you? You (Eloi) even build shelters to go hide in when the sirens go off. Shelters you built because you knew the chances where good that your house was going to get blown away.

There is always the North, Central and Eastern, that are totally stunned every year when the snow falls and you freeze to death or have buildings collapse due to the buildup. Not to mention the heart attacks from going out first thing in the morning to shovel the snow out of your driveway.

See, that's the nice thing about earthquakes, no warning, they hit and then they go away. I don't have to wonder whether to evacuate or not. I'm not wondering if I have enough food to wait for the snowplow (Yes,I do have earthquake supplies that I update yearly, I'm not unrealistic). I'm not hunkering in a shelter, or trying to find one because the sirens are screaming.

One of my favorite stories is that after the Northridge quake, a couple moved to Oklahoma, because they weren't going to go through any more earthquakes. They died less than a year later in a flash flood.

So, STFU. Your choice of where to live is no better than mine. I will come to your aid and I hope you come to mine. That's America. I just don't want to hear that crap about "Well, you chose to live in an earthquake zone".

No comments: