A City Wrapped in Tape
For the past week, I’ve had this nasty cough that wakes me up a lot in the middle of the night, so I’ve been hearing the Brian Lehrer show replay on WNYC around 2 a.m. Last night the topic was about terrorism, again. This was good: A listener suggested Christo wrap the city in duct tape.
- posted by Amy @ 2/14/2003 07:09:00 PM

 

Scared or Prepared?
This week I finally started putting together an emergency kit. What a horrible thing. One minute you feel as if you’re overreacting and that by buying duct tape, somehow the “terrorists have won.” And the next minute you worry you’re not buying enough stuff. The whole time, of course you focus on things like the total grid-lock that will occur if we have to evacuate New York City, whether a can of cold beans will taste better than a can of water-packed tuna and by the way, do I really need to invest in a bucket “with a tight lid” on the hygiene list?

I grew up in California with earthquakes. Decent sized earthquakes. But I never had an emergency earthquake kit, beyond a few extra blankets and a sturdy pair of shoes in the trunk of my car. But I did feel guilty about not having the full kit.

Last weekend I printed out the Red Cross list of disaster supplies. Around Wednesday I started acquiring the stuff.

Guess what? It’s not cheap. First it was $90 at the hardware store for some Rubbermaid bins, plastic drop cloths, duct tape, flashlights, rain ponchos and that type of stuff. Then to the food co-op for a bit of water, cans of tuna, energy bars, rubber gloves, Castille soap and other stuff that added up to nearly $70. Then by Home Depot for spare keys for Meeting Place No. 3 in Jersey in case we have to leave the city. I’m barely half way through the list.

And here’s a puzzling note – at least in my little neighborhood, the stores don’t have disaster packages. You’d think the local hardware store would photocopy the Red Cross or FEMA list and box the stuff up and sell it in $100 boxes. Or at least keep it all in one section of the store. It was a real pain getting the stuff I’ve collected so far; I can’t imagine how terrible it would be right after another attack.
- posted by Amy @ 2/14/2003 06:47:00 PM