Eat your vegetables!

10-28-2012 9:04 AM EST

In less than 24 hours the upper portion of the eastern United States will begin to feel the wrath of Sandy.  Not in over 20 years have we seen readings like this in a tropical storm threatening the eastern seaboard and never before have we seen the hybrid conversion about to happen as Sandy makes landfall near New York.  For days the airwaves have been filed with scientific explanation, detailed forecasting, specialist interviews and warnings.

It doesn’t matter. As usual.

All across the New England area, there are thousands watching the development of the storm convinced that the forecasters are wrong, the storm will weaken, and that “because it has never happened” it will not happen now.

Ignorance runs rampant.

The anger began to stir up inside me three days ago as I monitored FaceBook and saw the comments made by so many. The attitude seems to be one of excitement and adventure as the common man once again looks forward to the severe assuming it will be just like they see on television.  Reality TV strikes again as I see comments made on Reed Timmer’s FaceBook by his fans: “I hope it gets worse…would love to see some tornadoes out of this!” followed by “Bring it on! Cannot wait to ride it out!”

As usual, the American public has based its knowledge of the severe and understanding of the threat on their perception which is solely based on 30 minute excerpts of television crap.  While Reed Timmer has perpetuated the transition of severe weather from a science to a sport in the eyes of his fans, he cannot be faulted, for it is the fans that have the responsibility to educate themselves beyond Reed’s aired adventures.  In over a dozen conversations I had with severe weather fans just yesterday, not one of those people understood the meaning of a 950mb low.  While every one of them could name famous tornadoes, not one had ever experienced 72 hours of 75 mile per hour winds nor had any understanding of the impact this would have.

I doubt that storm chasing fans are aware of the extensive schooling and education held by Timmer or how many hours he studies impending weather threats before strapping himself into his Dominator.  Ask a fan… there’s nothing to storm chasing…you just need guts, right?

Wrong.

For years I felt that there was a lack of education in this country when it came to severe weather threats but I no longer believe that is true. The education is there… the students are not and this is not Reed’s fault or that of anyone else on television.

What I believe is that America has become like small children, choosing to eat Twinkies before dinner and tossing broccoli under the table because they don’t like it.  The nutrition is there, but the choice to not ingest it is made by the immature and the ignorant.  Like that small child who screams and chooses to not eat their peas, it takes a parent to make them sit in the high chair until every last vegetable is eaten…why? Because they are not smart enough to know what is good for them.

So where are the parents now in this storm of the century? There are none. We have no recourse, no control and no authority to make people put disaster kits together.  We have no authority to make sure that people are stocking upon supplies or buying a generator, and for that, we will pay dearly…hopefully not in lives.

You see, in less than 48 hours, organizations from the Red Cross to Chasing4Life will be called upon to feed, clothe, house and rescue those that were too immature and too ignorant to see what was good for them.  Responders will be forced to go out in the one of the worst storms this country has ever seen to rescue those that have never missed an episode of storm chasers, but have never bothered to understand the science.

Ignorance is not bliss.

There is saying used by my NRA friends; “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people”.  It’s true. What is even more true is that unfortunately there is no test of maturity in order to own one. In like manner, there is no test to determine who should have children, who should own a house or who should drive a car or who should be allowed to watch reality television.  In other words, I see no end to this madness. We can only pray for the safety of the responders as they attempt to assist those that chose their plight.

There is no lack of education in this country, there is a lack of people wanting to be educated.  If it were not for the work of serious professional chasers like Reed Timmer there would be much we did not know, but because exciting adventure-packed reality television tastes better than science, what millions need to know lies on the floor near the dog.

Wake up America.  It is a perverse mind that looks forward to a horrific storm with anxious anticipation and joy. These storms are getting worse and more frequent and one of these days we will be standing in piles of debris and rubble across this country realizing much too late it was all for real and not scripted entertainment.

Updates, communication and reporting is going to play a key role in saving lives over the next few days and so with that said, we will pray for the safety of those that are dedicating their time, finances and lives to heading out into Sandy’s path.  For those that have been preparing and making attempts to mitigate the storm’s effects, we applaud you all. For those of you that still think this will amount to nothing or that think this could be your opportunity to live out a fantasy…may God help you.  

Take a minute to see these severe weather heroes the way they should be seen...Reed is a scientist and researcher and despite the exciting antics, there is a foundation of education that fuels storm chasing if it is to be done right. There is a reason that man is still alive.  He'll be out there this week with many others and that education will keep them alive. Will your education save yours?

MOVING AND GROWING

Mid-November will bring more changes to the Chasing4Life team. We will be moving our offices and acquiring new (and much-needed) warehousing in Mid-November. We are relocating several staff members as well and are excited about the potential of having a new "corporate headquarters" with a complete office staff and leadership team all in one location! Details to follow...

Change-Raking leaves and looking toward Spring

Andy Warhol once said “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”  That has been going on a lot at Chasing4Life. At the beginning of the year we delegated a lot of responsibility to team members in hopes of creating more time at the office to go after sponsors and partners, to build marketing machines and to follow up on the opportunities that had been presenting themselves at the end of 2011. It was a time of change.
Those changes, unfortunately, were not all good. The delegation of responsibility worked well in some cases, but in many, the middle of the year found us here at the office attempting to correct so many errors that we felt we were losing ground. With 6 months left in the year and several huge conferences coming up, we could no longer afford to miss out on opportunities and so we made changes again.
Adding office staff was a big struggle that happened during all of this as well- with money short and time even shorter, who do you find that can take on the full-time position for so little?
I felt as though we were re-arranging furniture in a living room every day when what I really wanted was a bigger living room.
In late 2011 we lost my assistant of several years and our Operations Coordinator took on another part-time job leaving us extremely short-handed. After 6 months, we were lucky to find that assistant that was willing to take on the responsibility.
Things, once again, began to change and I found office hours that had been lost for what seemed like a year. We began to make progress, add people, find new partners and GROW.  While it would have seemed like a time to rejoice, the profitability of the change was greatly diminished again when some team members decided they did not like the changes or those that had grabbed the employment opportunities.
Once again...change.
For the last 3 months I have handled all of the office communication, correspondence, recruitiment processing, uniforms and marketing by myself in order to appease those that did not want to communicate with the new staff.
As I had suspected, this made no difference but rather simply revealed much about many.
Time for change again.
With almost 200 members again, the Chasing4Life Disaster Response Team is stronger than it has ever been. It is something to be proud of, and its members should wear the team colors proudly as more mutual aid agreements and more contracts and more networking has occurred in the last 3 months than ever before in the history of the organization.  Our largest Summit is scheduled for February and for the first time in years, we are very close to running out of room at one of our Summits.
With new partners from around the world (Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, etc), we have more gear, more capability and more opportunity to serve than ever before.
All of this has happened during CHANGE, and those that screamed for these changes have played no role, communicated little, and have participated NONE.
Change often times can be painful. As our family prepares to move to a new farm, I am reminded of when I was young and our family relocated from my childhood neighborhood to a new town. I hated it. New people, new streets, new kids, new school. I selfishly displayed my anger and childish opinion to my parents and made their lives a living hell for quite some time. Two years later I saw that the change had been the hardest on my parents and realized that their sacrifice had made a better life for our family.
It has been the same with Chasing4Life.
The changes have been difficult. I miss the days when I had hours to just talk on the phone with everyone, sit around and dream with them, interact and visit. Those days have been gone for some time as I have been forced to take on all of these responsibilities and have been prevented from utilizing the new staff for fear of angering a few.
Today is the first of October and also the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. For those of you that know your biblical history, it is a season of change...AGAIN.
With so many members, with so many opportunities, with so many demands and so much growth, it is time to shake the dead leaves off the trees and start looking ahead to the Spring.
Our new office staff, along with the old office staff is ready to attack 2013 and we plan on seeing our membership double in the next 6 months. The days of "no-shows" at events are over. The Summit will be full and by March of 2013, we will be ready to deploy like never before.
For our team members, there is new opportunities for paid and unpaid deployments alike for those that attend the Summit and the trainings it holds. There are new relationships within the new membership that are yours for the taking. There is a new opportunity to serve this country with new gear, new trucks, new trailers, new equipment and new agreements.
For our supporters, you are about to see the Chasing4Life team thrive beyond anything you saw in 2005 and 2006. You are about to see more national recognition than you saw in 2008 or 2009. You are about to see an army that consists of truly passionate soldiers of humantiy.
For those of you that simply visit this blog from time to time, these changes mean we are looking for you. Get involved. Contact us about joining. Grab hold of the chance to serve, to train and to fellowship.
For those of you that have been unhappy with the changes? The results do not lie. Dead leaves fall to the ground and that is all. The changes were needed.
The changes have been hard, but a new season was on its way and I am glad we made them. As in my yard, not every tree handles the chill and transition, but Spring looms ahead with the promise of a great yield in the future.
Until next time, I have to go rake some leaves...