The news media in these parts are giving wall-to-wall coverage to the "Frankenstorm", Hurricane Sandy, which is headed for Southern Ontario by way of Atlantic City. This morning the three nice folks who hector me at breakfast time from our local talk radio station, CKTB, were expressing amazement at the reaction of some of the locals.
It seems that during the weekend, the Mayor of Niagara Falls ventured to suggest that if citizens happened to see a buildup of fallen leaves blocking the storm drains, they might consider shovelling them out of the way in order to avoid flooding when the predicted rains arrive. Cue outrage, on the lines of "I pay my taxes, why should I have to keep the storm drains clear?"
With a natural disaster looming, I don't think I'd be inclined to stand too firmly on that point of principle. If one of these anti-social types suffers a heart attack during the storm, you wonder how they'll feel if their neighbour refuses to offer first aid, on the basis that "we pay taxes for doctors and nurses to do that kind of thing".
Further thoughts, 30 October:
* Just to show not all Canadians are like Outraged of Niagara Falls, the Toronto local newscast yesterday evening showed a resident of the low-lying Beach neighbourhood using a snow shovel to clear leaves from storm drains all around the area -- well done that man!
* Amid all the mayhem, a small miracle courtesy of Hurricane Sandy. The usually insufferable Piers Morgan was on CNBC in his usual mid-evening slot yesterday, anchoring the coverage of the storm, and managed to do a good job -- none of the customary smirking and bombast. Bet it won't last!
No comments:
Post a Comment