Into the storm

Posted at 11:38 AM on November 5, 2012 by Bob Collins (4 Comments)

It hasn't been easy for the out-of-state electric grid linemen who've poured into the Hurricane Sandy areas to get power back. What's happening to people who still don't have power in the northeast is a horrible mess, but it's not the fault of people who have left their home and families to try to do something about it.

People like the ones from Minnesota, for example.

Some linemen have come from as far away as Arkansas and Arizona to help out.

But sometimes people are what people are. In Bridgeport last week, people started throwing eggs at linemen after the city's mayor complained the city wasn't getting the attention it deserved from the utility.

My nephew has been dispatched to Connecticut to help out and maybe he's felt a little of the angst of customers. When he posted this on Facebook yesterday, he noted "at least some people love us.

---

Comments (4)

I don't get the rational...
"Lineman work faster then having eggs and insults hurled at them."

it's not to far off:
"If I yell and scream and swear over the phone at this call center, they will go out of their way to give me better service!"

Turns out both those statements are likely false. People don't go out of the way for others who don't bother to treat them as fellow human beings, much less with respect.

Final thought...
According to Wikipedia: "The median income for a household in the city was $34,658"
I wouldn't write that off as a poor neighbor hood (sure not wealthy, in my quick search I couldn't find a suburb of the cities that was close to that, but Hinckley is $29,338 and Brooklyn Center was $44,570) I guess it depends on what it's surrounded by... ("Poor" is a state of mind, "broke" is a state of wallet.)

Posted by jon | November 5, 2012 12:27 PM

---

There's no comparison between Bridgeport, CT and Hinkley. The cost of living is nowhere near the same. It's a pretty poor city, especially in a state that has the highest per-capita income of any state in the country.

Posted by Bob Collins | November 5, 2012 12:54 PM

---

It is amazing what Americans have come to expect from their government and utilities. It has been a week. Yes, it must really suck to be one of the places that doesn't have power, but it was a HUGE storm. They were warned ahead of the size and that they should have rations. What do they want to have happen, exactly? There are only so many people nationwide that can do this work. They are working long and hard and are away from their families and deserve only praise and understanding.

Posted by Kassie | November 5, 2012 1:34 PM

---

HUGE cost of living difference
http://www.bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/state/connecticut

http://www.bestplaces.net/cost_of_living/city/minnesota/hinckley

When food, clothing and shelter cost 40% more is that being poor or broke?

I phrase that I learned about average (I know we are talking median) - If my feet are in a deep freeze and my head in a blast furnace - on average I am comfortable.
:)

City median and average don't tell the story of individual neighborhoods.

Posted by BJ | November 5, 2012 1:49 PM

---

• E-mail this page
• Print this page
• Tweet this page
• Share this

Services

• Hourly Newscast
• HD Radio
• iPhone App / Mobile
• E-mail newsletters
• RSS feeds
• Podcasts
• Submit your photos
• Videos
• Weather
• Most e-mailed stories