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Great Idea

zuzu

Christy Hardin Smith has a great idea for the heat wave:

And while I’m thinking about it, a whole lot of folks don’t have the money for air conditioning, what with rising energy prices and grocery prices and gas prices and…well, you know, pretty much everything the way it is.

So if there is an elderly person in your neighborhood without air conditioning, why not volunteer to take them out for an ice cream at the local Dairy Queen, where you can sit inside in air conditioned splendor for an hour or so. Or check on the folks you see sitting out on the stoop on a hot evening, and see if they need some help. Or a fan, or a bag of ice or something.

Or if there is a person in your area that you know is disabled or shut-in for some reason, and you haven’t seen them for a while, please just stop by with an extra cold bottle of water and make sure everything is okay. As families spread out more and more, often the folks who need the most help don’t have family on which to rely in times like this — and that makes it all the more important for them to have someone look in and be sure that everything is okay. It just takes a minute or two, but that little bit of time can make all the difference sometimes.

The more we all pitch in and help each other through the heat wave, the stronger our communities become. And isn’t that what we’d all like someone to do for us if we needed the help? I’d like to think so, anyway.

Here in New York, areas of Queens have been without power for six days, so nobody has even a fan to cool them. Last year’s heat wave in Europe killed thousands, and the Midwest heatwave11 years ago killed over 400 mostly elderly people in Chicago (not to mention thousands of heads of cattle and chickens). Elderly people, especially, do not do well in the heat. So, like Christy says, if you haven’t seen your elderly or disabled neighbor in a bit, go check on them. Even if they’re fine, they might enjoy the company.

26 thoughts on Great Idea

  2. St. Louis is in real danger right now. Frequent storms have knocked out power in many areas, and the heat has been intense.

    I agree, take care of others.

  5. Is it just me, or shouldn’t power outages as large as this be more in the news? I read about it online before I heard about it, and yet it isn’t a major story like it should be.

  6. A cold bottle of water or an hour at Dairy Queen isn’t going to do much to help someone who must live in heat 24/7. These are the kind of token gestures that make the giver feel good while doing very little to help the problem.

  8. Elderly die from heat because they have other complicating factors to which heat becomes an additional stressor. An ice cream cone isn’t going to help with that. Further, elderly are not stupid and know enough to put water in a container and leave it in the ice box. You take bottled water to flood victims. Ice cold water is bad for those with heat exhaustion because it leads to cramps.

    To help the elderly, make sure they have a fan. Fans cost

  10. Anyway, that weather machine is called an air conditioner. You are fortunate enough to have one. Buy an elderly person a fan or take them wherever they want to go that is air conditioned. Forget terrorizing them with repeated stranger visits.

  11. Here’s a thought. If you’re in an area that does have power, and you’ve got an elderly neighbor without air conditioning, and you do, invite them to come stay with you until the heat breaks. If you have multiple fans, and they don’t, lend them one. Heck, buy them one, a fan can be had for very little money.

    And remember when considering your neighbors that those with respiratory issues, like the little kid next door with asthma, are also impacted seriously by heat and humidity.

  12. I think your milk of human kindness curdled a bit, Nancy.

    As did your reading comprehension. Did you miss this part of Christy’s suggestion?

    Or check on the folks you see sitting out on the stoop on a hot evening, and see if they need some help. Or a fan, or a bag of ice or something.

    However, fans and air conditioners are useless in the kind of power outage Queens is experiencing right now.

    Moreover, this makes no sense:

    Buy an elderly person a fan or take them wherever they want to go that is air conditioned. Forget terrorizing them with repeated stranger visits.

    So it’s terrorizing them to check on them, but it’s a-ok to put them in your car and take them somewhere?

  13. Elderly people who live alone may be afraid of being robbed or conned, because they are disproportionately victims of such crimes, especially when they live alone. When there is a power outage or earthquake or some other disaster, they frequently won’t open their door to strangers. When someone they don’t know knocks insistently on the door, yes, it causes them anxiety. That person is intruding and causing needless distress. And where did I suggest abducting anyone?

    Not everyone lives in Queens. We are having 119 degree weather here in CA. Did you mean your concern to only apply to NYC?

  14. The Weather Channel ran a story the other day about a city that appealed to its citzenry in the past week to do this very thing, to check in on neighbors who are most vulnerable to the negative effects of the heat wave. I can’t remember the city offhand. Did anyone else see this?

    I think at its base, this is an appeal not just to help these folks in this instance but in general to work to establish more connected communites where we look after each other–from heat, from strangers, from con-artists.

  15. I know! I know! Let’s ask Wal-Mart to donate money (or air conditioners, if they stock them) to help keep elderly people cool through the heat wave. Wal-Mart, as I’m sure you all know, loves to help people. And I’m sure they’ll jump if they know human lives might be at stake. Heck I’m positive one of those six-figure executives will even show up to install them.

    What do you think? Good idea, eh?

  16. Is it just me, or shouldn’t power outages as large as this be more in the news? I read about it online before I heard about it, and yet it isn’t a major story like it should be.

    The “beautiful people” don’t live in Queens. If it had been Manhattnan it would have been all over the news.

    Nancy: WTF? If you’ve got better ideas, fine, but there’s no need to be combative.

  18. That sounds like it could’ve been written by a Dairy Queen employee. Not criticizing the idea or anything, just sayin’.

  19. That sounds like it could’ve been written by a Dairy Queen employee.

    Nope, just someone who’s concerned about elderly people who’ve worked their entire lives to retire and now live on a fixed income in an increasingly more expensive world.

    You suck

    And now, the deluge.

  20. The “beautiful people” don’t live in Queens. If it had been Manhattnan it would have been all over the news.

    BTW, this made national news as “Parts of the New York City Area are out of power,” at least in the Midwest. They didn’t distinguish Queens, Manhattan, etc., because my parents called thinking we were out of power in Hoboken NJ too.

  21. I’m amazed that even a post which amounts to, “Help people if you can” gets attacked. I’m sorry, but Zuzu sucks? I know who I’d rather have as my neighbor…

  23. Zuzu, you should be ashamed of suppressing my difference of opinion with you. You suck.

    Nancy, what the fuck are you talking about? You’re accusing me of suppressing your difference of opinion with you because you hit submit too soon?

    Get a life, STAT.

  25. how is it that no matter how semingly uncontroversial a topic may be there’s always a bunch of nutters ready to turn it into a blogging free-for-all. Just do what you think is right.

  26. how is it that no matter how semingly uncontroversial a topic may be there’s always a bunch of nutters ready to turn it into a blogging free-for-all. Just do what you think is right.

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