Hurricane Sandy And Presidential Election Post Script – Best of Times

Funny how the events of the last week or so remind me of the opening line in Charles Dickens’ “A Tale of Two Cities”.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…”

Hurricane Sandy overshadowed the Presidential election to an extent; but never really quite dulled the level of discourse on social media.

Barbs from the left…barbs from the right…it was all summed up nicely right after the results of the election were announced by the Drudge Report headline, “The Divided States of America!”

One only needs to take a look at the news feed on your Facebook page to see the number of posts from those of both political persuasions…and you realize just how true the Drudge headline really is.

The Dickens’ quote is also epitomized in the wake of Hurricane Sandy by both the acts of charity we’ve seen and heard about; along with the acts of thievery and cowardice that have peppered the news.

Consider this…one of a number of stories like it:

Hazlet police arrested a Middletown woman and her boyfriend, who they say stole items from the hotel room of an out-of-state worker helping clean up storm damage.
Police said Richard Quinn, 28, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and his girlfriend, Alexis Bruno, 23, of Middlewood Road, Middletown, were arrested Sunday night at the Best Western hotel on Route 35.

Detective Lt. Charles McBride said around 11:25 p.m., a Virginia man – employed by a tree service company whose employees are working in the area – left his door ajar and went to a co-worker’s hotel room.

Quinn and Bruno went into the room and stole a loaded handgun, an iPod, a lighter, a pocketknife, a cell phone, medication, chewing tobacco and playing cards, police said.

Someone spotted them leaving the room and called police.

Officers spotted Bruno with a loaded .22-caliber gun in her waistband and took the pair into custody, he said.

Both Bruno and Quinn were charged with burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy. Bruno was also charged with unlawful possession of a handgun.

Bail for both was set at $20,000. Bruno was released after posting bail. Quinn was sent to the Both Bruno and Quinn were charged with burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and conspiracy. Bruno was also charged with unlawful possession of a handgun.

Bail for both was set at $20,000. Bruno was released after posting bail. Quinn was sent to the Monmouth County jail, Freehold Township.

All of the victim’s belongings were recovering by police.

Not to mention the other stories of looting that have taken place during the state of emergency.

In the words of Marvin Gaye: “Make Me Wanna Holler!”

Compare it to the story of a French chef who cooks for those in need of warmth and food.

In the last week, there’s also been the recent offering of a free hot meal to the residents of Belmar courtesy of Bar A…or the countless stories you may have heard on the air of people willing to give up space in their homes to shelter those who’ve lost their own homes.

Life imitates art…best epitomized by the opening line in “A Tale of Two Cities.”

Best of times….worst of times…how do you see it?