A little story about Hurricane Sandy, (or stupid things you do when you're young)

In case you hadn't heard, which I highly doubt, hurricane Sandy made her way up the East Coast earlier this week. Fortunately, D.C. was not hit nearly as hard as places up north and, at least in my neighborhood, the most damage that was done were broken tree branches littering the streets.  (Other areas were not so lucky, and my thoughts are with everyone still reeling from the effects of the storm).

This meant that I had two extra days off work, inside, with netflix and my stock pile of snacks to keep me company. Although I loved the ability to sleep in, and was thankful for not losing power, the restlessness kicked in pretty quickly.

Enter, a stupid decision.

Please note: I do not condone going outside in a hurricane with 55+ mph wind gusts, especially when your city is shut down in a state of emergency BUT...

My roommate and I realized we had mulling spices, a working fireplace AND Hocus Pocus streaming online. It was, despite the hurricane raging outside, shaping up to be the perfect fall evening. The downfall however, was our lack of ample red wine with which to mull. So we had a choice to make, forgo a delicious fall drink and let Sandy win, or walk the 10 blocks to the neighborhood wine shop that was still open.

Guess which one we chose.

After putting on our best 'hurricane proof' gear we headed out. From our seats in the living room the storm didn't seem as horrible as the news was making it out to be. Sure the wind was loud at times, but for the most part it seemed manageable and my roommate, who hails from Florida, was not impressed by the category 1 label Sandy was holding.

How quickly our disillusion disappeared.

Within moments of being outside we were soaked, rain was smacking into my face so hard at times I felt like I wasn't taking in any air. We quickly broke into a jog and started scanning the streets for a cab. By the time we had realized how dumb our decision was, we were already half way there.

So we soldiered on, and eventually found ourselves inside the warm wine shop as five male workers stared at our drenched clothes and offered us paper towels. At that moment I was realizing just how ridiculous, not to mention desperate, we must look. Quickly though we realized we weren't the only ones, as at least a dozen or so other people piled into the store.

Please note: I do not condone climbing into a white van with three men you don't know BUT...

There was no way we were running home again. We had learned our lesson, so my roommate started calling cab companies while I stood outside attempting to hail one down. After about 5 minutes, and zero cabs, the kind gentleman working at the store offered to give us a ride home.

So my roommate and I hopped into the back of a white creeper van with three male strangers, and headed on our way. Despite the van, the guys were great and we were thankful for the dry transportation.

In the end, we got home safely and were able to enjoy sweet mulled red wine while watching the best Halloween movie there is.

It may not have been the smartest decision, but when you're a twenty.something the best thing you can do is live and learn.


Happy November!