Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Inspirational New Yorkers

There is nothing more inspiring than what I have witnessed over the past week. A devastating storm hit the NY area and instead of freaking out and complaining, I have seen so many New Yorkers come together.

I spent the first couple of post-Sandy days in Manhanttan. I was in the lower half of the city - the part with no power or water. The part that started to smell after a couple of days. Instead of feeling sorry for ourselves, New Yorkers hit the streets and spent the day walking around and making conversations with strangers. Companies let locals charge their phones and other devices in their stores. People were quick to help each other out. Incredible. Let's face it, New Yorkers aren't usually known as being friendly but when faced with disaster, we come together like no other.

I spent the next part of post-Sandy in Brooklyn. It consisted of gas chasing, some trick or treating, hearing lots of stories about people who lost eerything and a lot of Facebook'ing. I'm usually not on Facebook that much but it was a way to keep in touch with friends, family and co-workers and checking up on people who had houses in hard-struck neighborhoods. People were quick to help people when they had a question, even if it's someone they haven't talked about in a while. It was also a way to find out how and where to help. After talking and seeing so many people who lost all of their belongings, I, like many others, knew I had to help out.

But the most inspiring thing I saw was in the Rockaways. These people lost everything. EVERYTHING. Instead of complaining or feeling sorry for themselves, they were all thankful. Thankful that even though they lost everything physically, they still had their family and friends. And thankful for the outreach from the community. If you said sorry to them, they would respond saying that there are people worst off then them or that they are just happy that they survived and that their family was okay. These people were so strong, definitely something to aspire to. 

Every since witnessing them, I'm trying to have a much more positive look at life. How can I complain about such trivial things when I have a wonderful family and friends who care for me. It also made me have even less respect for people who intentionally bring harm to others, who are fake, and who don't care enough to check up on people they claim to care about. Hardships definitely bring out true colors so I'm proud to say that those from NYC shine like no others. 

There is nothing stronger in this world than those born and raised in New York City. And don't you forget it :)

Stay safe.
xo ~CM

Hurricane Sandy
Manhattan 10/30

Hurricane Sandy - Rockaways
Rockaways 11/03

Hurricane Sandy - Rockaways
Rockaways/Some Breezy Remains 11/03

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