The Way We Overreact About Things

To preface this so that people don't jump my shit about being insensitive or making light out of a bad situation, I'm talking specifically about Maine here. I'm grateful that my friends and family in New York, Connecticut, Maryland, and Virginia (and any others I missed) are safe and sound.

Maine. So far north of landfall they didn't even label it.

However. Mainers fucking freak out during hurricane season if one makes its way up the Eastern Seaboard. Last year, with Irene, people panicked. I will say that conditions are always different on the coast, but where I live, snugly in the central part of the state? People still panic. Buy all the water. All the batteries. Freak the fuck out. And I roll my eyes as it rains no more than it would in the summer, as the wind blows no harder than it does in January. Maybe the power goes out, maybe it doesn't. But it's absolutely stupid to panic about hurricanes in Central Maine. I honestly think the last one that actually impacted the interior of the state to any degree was Hurricane Bob in 1991; I remember our neighbor at camp coming to tell us to chain up our boat because he'd heard it on the radio that we were going to get hit.

No, we don't need to freak out about hurricanes, Mainers. It's Nor'easters and ice storms we need to be concerned with (and people still freak out and panic). You know, thinking about it, if we didn't have so much media bombarding us, I don't think the panic would be as great. But no, we have to have round the clock satellite coverage with stressful music and strategically placed WalMart ads. It's all kind of nauseating. I was so not worried about things that I completely slept through the thunder storm we had this morning and guess what? I didn't watch a lick of news beforehand!

So really, people, stop panicking, or I will mock you and make fun of you. You're not being hit by any hurricane so why not worry for the ones who did?