LONG ISLAND WHINES AFTER IRENE WINDS

Here on Long Island there was a hurricane...ok, a tropical storm.

Wires, trees, poles were all ripped down by the force of Irene's wind...no matter what meteorological

term you use to describe it. The aftermath has my head spinning faster than the corner stop sign caught in a 90 mile per hour gust.

Are we all so spoiled that a major (afterall, when was the last one?) event such as this doesn't demand some respect for the power that caused the destruction and an understanding of the huge undertaking of repairing the damage?

Surpise, Long Island...Mother Nature doesn't cater to our homegrown elite sense of entitlement.

Once again I'm reminded that when anything serious happens here...we are selfishly incapable of dealing with the fallout.

Although I was inconvenienced by the power outage—going days without electric, hot water, cable tv—although I incurred costs in the aftermath...I'm so proud of the tremendous job LIPA has done in the wake of Irene.

Now would be a good time for the residents of Nassau and Suffolk to stop complaining and begin planning how you can do better to prepare for the next big storm.