Due to Hurricane Sandy I was stuck upstate until yesterday morning. During my days as a refugee I had been watching 24 nonstop. I went to go for a run at my sister's house, where she lives almost on a completely private road. A strange car pulled up her driveway and I ran into the woods to hide, peeking around a tree trunk.
It was the mailman.
Yesterday I took a morning bus into the city and I went right to work from the bus. After work I had to make a two hour trek home in complete darkness with my bags. It was terrifying. All of lower Manhattan was without power, and you couldn't see anyone's faces. Because all of my relevant subways are under water, I had to walk from 34th to 14th street, catch a bus for a few more blocks downtown, then walk over the Williamsburg bridge, and then through Brooklyn to get home. No cab services available, all busy. I had a "bridge buddy" I met on the bus, but I couldn't help but think that any minute on the lightless bridge I would find myself the victim of a sneak attack while he was pretending to call someone on his cell phone. This did not happen, but every step over the water was unsettling.
I wish I never came back. This single trek was NOT worth "getting back to work."*
*My sentiment would be different if I had a Jack Bauer in my life. Then I would say, just as my 3 year old niece told me a couple of days ago, "Bring it on!"
