Stronger than the storm?

As a resident of the great oddly shaped state of New Jersey, I know first hand what Sandy did.  When word came that Sandy would come rolling through town, I went through the paces of tying down lawn furniture, making sure the bathtubs were full of water, charging my iPad and loading it with episodes of Knight Rider.  I was ready for the apocalypse.  As a fan of storms, I took to my front porch to watch our "perfect storm" make its grand appearance.  It did arrive but it seemed pretty lackluster, at least it at my location.  Irene, who had come a little over a year earlier did a much better job of making my neighbor's trees bend until there tops were almost perpendicular to their bottoms.

The next morning I surveyed my yard -- not a single branch was down.  Power never went out.  Bathtubs were drained.  We were lucky.  Many people were not.  Sandy ravaged the coast of New Jersey.  Here is one of the more iconic pictures of what Sandy did to my beloved home state:

It was terrible.  My sympathy goes out to each and every person who was affected by this storm.  I said many prayers for them.  It was a serious tragedy.  Luckily Governor Christie stepped up to the plate and did everything in his power to help New Jersey overcome this tragedy.  So far so good.  But one thing is really annoying me.  Our new PR campaign:  Stronger than the Storm.

What the heck is this?  First off, the song is lousy.  Secondly it was written by a NY based production company.  Couldn't they convince a Jersey boy like Bruce or Bon Jovi to come up with something.  Maybe we would have gotten something a little better.

The lyrics are lousy too.  "Because we're stronger than the storm."  Really?  Are we really stronger than the storm? I don't think so.  If we were able to wake up the day after the storm and ride the roller coasters along the boardwalk (or even walk on the boardwalk) this might have been the case.  New Jersey got its behind kicked in a very serious way.  Obviously we were weaker than the storm.  The fact that we are rebuilding suggests that we are perhaps more resilient than the storm.  This storm beat us up and ran away.  We have the drive to stick around and rebuild.  Hopefully we rebuild in a strong enough way so that we can use this song the next time a hurricane comes around.  "Hey, screw you Hurricane Julia.  You can't mess with us!"

I'm not much of a shore person.  I'll go to Cape May from time to time.  I enjoy the occasional trip to the AC boardwalk to watch the crazies stagger around in the middle of the night.  I've been known to enjoy a bit of gambling on the casino floor.  I'm glad that Jersey is rebuilding.  Despite my feelings that Jersey is a dull landscape, it does hold a special place in my heart.  I was raised here.  I want to see it succeed and triumph. But in keeping vigilant and being prepared (stronger) for our next storm, I'll keep my Knight Rider episodes handy on my iPad.