The night before Sandy hit New York City, I stepped out of my apartment and dropped by the hardware store around the corner. The store was called “Tire Fix, Bike Locks, Bathrooms, Anything you Need” and might occupy 200 square feet on a good day. Its run by a middle-age man from Trinidad who goes by Joe and keeps most everything behind the counter. I was stopping in for batteries (smart), candles (smart) and a low-flow showerhead (irrelevant). When I asked for low-flow, Joe quipped, “you save it, someone else will waste it.” I didn’t have a quick response, so I just smiled. Joe had his 4-inch TV blasting Eyewitness News, and some talking head was going on about how Sandy was going to be the biggest thing that America had ever done. Joe and I had a good laugh, and I paid too much for my batteries and went on my way. On the way out, I could hear Joe making fun of an older Jamaican lady who had asked if he had any flashlights left. Continue reading →