Lessons in the Gas Lines following Super Storm Sandy Part IV

Lessons in the Gas Lines 

following Super Storm Sandy

Part IV

One day, I shared a space in line with a young man who was experiencing overwhelming anxiety about his athletic ambitions.  Possessed with an athletic intelligence and a commanding knowledge of football, he aspires to play in the National Football League.  But, his physique is rather small; most scouts immediately dismiss him and negate his dreams and goals as they do not posit he could survive and thrive in professional football.  Beyond finances and fame, he greatly desired success as it would enable him to marry his long-term girl friend and future fiancé.  I reasoned he really loves her and earnestly desires to build a life with her.  Their untainted and early love impressed me.  Silently, I prayed for their success and maturity in love and as individuals.  Still, his anxiety plagued him as we talked.  In response to constructive and caring criticism he received from a couple of coaches and scouts, he sought positions on Arena Football teams hoping to parlay any successes into openings on a NFL team roster. 

Recounting the stories of Doug Flutie and Warren Moon, I suggested that this young man consider playing in the Canadian Football League.  Flutie and Moon utilized that route to their NFL dreams and goals; eventually, Flutie achieved the starting quarterback position with the Buffalo Bills and Moon acquired the same position with the Houston Oilers, present day Tennessee Titans.  The young gentleman acknowledged his unawareness about this possibility with a glimmer of hope in his eyes and a broadening smile on his face.  Again, I silently prayed that he would explore this option by researching Canadian Football League teams.  I suggested he produced a DVD profile of his playing skills.  Quite possibly, a scout or coach would call him.  Nevertheless, as we progressed in the line and neared the gas tanks, he reiterated his heart’s desire to arrange his vocational and financial affairs to enable the fulfillment of his heart’s deepest desire at that time; he wanted to marry his girlfriend as soon as he demonstrated his ability to provide for her as he deemed a husband should care for his wife.  With nearly eighteen years of marriage when this conversation occurred, I instantly remembered those feelings of having found the woman you want to marry and doggedly arranging your lifestyle to enable your wish.  As I wished him the very best and prayed genuinely for his personal and professional success, I gave thanks that the gas shortage afforded me the blessing of that encounter.  I humbly hope I imparted hopefulness to him.  His rightly enumerated priorities of love and relationship preceding work and professional ambition reminded me of the importance of valuing marriage and family above personal achievement. 

Carl Jung posits, “Man is an animal with a fatally overgrown brain.”  Natural disaster and human tragedy often expose humankind’s base animal instincts and predatory tendencies.  The emergence of an entrenched and expanding “Black Market” incontrovertibly proved Jung’s bleak assertion regarding human nature.  Senior citizens and persons with disabilities paid ten to fifteen dollars per gallon for gasoline; their critical need for fuel to travel to medical appointments coupled with their inability to wait in the long lines made them fresh prey for unscrupulous persons who waiting only to extort very vulnerable citizens.  I witnessed many transactions as shady individuals hailed cars and sold gasoline at highly inflated prices.  Within a week of the storm, the NYPD began to stop these “Black Market” deals.  People were no longer allowed to fill unlimited containers using grocery carts and red wagons.  To facilitate their schemes, these predators offered to buy other people’s places in line.  Once, one of them offered twenty dollars for my spot.  Beyond the fact that his offer fell way below my hourly billable rate, it offended me because it disrespected the time of everyone else in line.  Imagine the amount of loss wages that accumulated as people from all professions and types of employment forcibly stood in line as they had to have gasoline to travel to and from work.  In addition, some retailers began to inflate the price of gas containers; prices tripled and quadrupled overnight.  Once the gas shortage abated prices for gas containers fell but did not return to their normal rates; mostly, they settled approximately twenty-five percent above pre- Sandy levels.  Commendably, the New York State Attorney General’s Office fiercely and forcefully regulated gas prices to prevent gouging.  Had not he done so, desperate citizens would have paid twenty dollars or more a gallon! 

One of the worst instances of predatory profiteering in the aftermath of Super Storm Sandy centered upon free gasoline that President Obama made available to citizens in the most severe areas.  The federal government using armories as distribution centers initially gave ten gallons of gas to citizens who had the means of acquiring it with proper gas containers.  Within hours of this benefit, there were news reports of verbal threats, vulgarity and possible violence.  The common bond of severe need in dire circumstances proved ineffectual in creating unity, respect, and graciousness toward fellow citizens.  Moreover, people retrieved the free gas only to sell it to senior citizens, neighbors and other desperate persons.  Within days, federal authorities cancelled the distribution as it became a means for a thriving “Black Market” which would produce residual crime and hardships upon storm victims.

Whereas natural disasters such as Sandy quickly reveal the worst in human nature, they equally expose the better characteristics of countless, nameless people.  The neighboring state of Connecticut did not experience the gas shortages that the greater New York City and Long Island area did.  Utility companies and state government officials quickly restored power to Connecticut residents.  Gas stations did not need generators and fuel deliveries occurred without interruption.  Not surprisingly, this favorable news trickled down to the five boroughs of New York City; specifically, residents of Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx began travelling to the gas stations adorning Interstates 95 and 91 in Connecticut.  Their wait time never neared the long lines in which I stood for hours.  Personally, I observed and benefited from the magnanimity of generosity as a member of our church traveled to Connecticut for gas and spontaneously asked if I wished to purchase any.  His willingness to assume considerable risk to enrich my family’s life and the lives of a few other people continually challenges me to serve faithfully, immediately and willingly when opportunities arise.  Eventually, he filled his trunk with several full containers of gasoline.  An accident with a minimal collision would have transformed his car into a liquid bomb.  Nonetheless, he withstood that formidable risk because embedded within his character is the genuine and humble will to share.  That attribute became more apparent when he discovered subsequent to his return from Connecticut that another member of our church, a single middle-aged woman, needed gas.  Without hesitation, he divided the gas to accommodate her need.  When he arrived at my house, he shared his decision which I understood and agreed.  I refused his offer of reimbursement for the portion of the gas that went to our Christian sister.  His graciousness sufficed as payment.