Last week we saw the real effects of global warming. As country, we began to have a better grasp of how we are affecting our world, of what we’re doing to it. As various states in the Northeast of the USA shut down to prepare what some were calling the Frankenstorm. Here at Brown it wasn’t any different. We all awaited impatiently the email to tell us classes were cancelled. We took the final trips to the grocery stores and cafeterias, we stocked up on food and we put on our most comfortable clothes with the plan of not leaving our dorm rooms until Wednesday morning. Yet as Sunday and Monday rolled around, we noticed that in spite of the hype and the knowledge that some cities were hit very hard, here in Providence we dodged a bullet. Here are the most common activities found on campus during Hurricane Weekend:
Hurricane Party: Some took these days off from class as another excuse to party. We had just come out of our Halloween weekend, but that didn’t stop students from sending mass text messages about parties happening on and off campus. The two parties scheduled to happen on a Thayer street bar still happened and it was no uncommon to hear about quick dashes to the liquor store to stock up.
Disaster Movie: Maybe it’s our sense of humor, or the fact that we want to try to predict what is really going to happen to our world, but I don’t think my dorm was the only one having a viewing of “The Day After Tomorrow”. We sat bundled up on couches, together staring at the projection of the movie. We laughed at the most inappropriate times and we didn’t care. We knew it was ironic and somehow wrong for us to be finding the movie funny, but we couldn’t help ourselves.
Work, Work, Work: Just because classes were cancelled doesn’t mean that so were our papers, and exams, and problem packets. Like a good and responsible student body, we tried not to sit around for two days doing absolutely nothing. It was no uncommon to hear people who were going to take advantage of the few hours the libraries were actually going to be open. Other, simply chose to remain in their rooms, wearing their pajamas, and working at their desks.
Wandering around: If you’re like me and you couldn’t sit still for long, then you might have found yourself, like me, wandering your dorm. I didn’t have that much work and my roommate was being studious. I found myself putting my sock clad feet into my lime green flip flops and walking up and down the stairs of my dorm room hoping somebody would have their door open and was willing to chill.
Dorm room bonding: The plus side of being locked in is that you have no choice but to bond with the people you are living with. Basements and lounges were great places to gather the crowds and get to know each other. We shared food, we shared laughs, we tried to make the time pass as fast as possible for everyone.
I think it is safe to say that as a student body we used our time off class wisely. Sure we would have probably reacted much differently if we had been hit as hard as New York was hit, or if our streets were flooded. Hurricane Sandy was not a joke, not for everyone. Some people truly suffered. Many lost their homes, lost power, some even lost their loved ones. Just because we were lucky we should not forget all those who suffered. Yet at the same time we should be glad that we were able to spend Hurricane Weekend having fun rather than hiding away.