Floridians in Winter: Unsung Heroes

Tragedy 

Note: All photos are real and were taken to document the horror in Jacksonville on January 4, 2014.

Heroes are made not born. Well, I suppose they are born too, and then made, but that doesn't make them any less awesome. A hero's awesomeness rests mostly in the fact that they have overcome great odds and probably dealt with skeptics right out of the gate. Heroic Justin Bieber can't sing or dance or pull up his pants, yet he became an inspirational superstar to friendless middle-schoolers everywhere. Sadly his star burned so brightly that haters tripped over themselves to knock him down. Now that he has (in no way at all fake) retired, now that his squeaky voice has been taken away from the world, I think we can all see the shame in focusing on his spitting at fans, proclivity for prostitutes or his spraying graffiti on the hotels that he graces.

Others are simply heroic for overcoming incredible odds. Rescued fighting dogs, Corey Feldman and Jerry Springer (pulled himself up from the humble beginings of being the Mayor of Chicago all the way to hosting his own carnival) serve to remind us that we too can be great given the right circumstances (not powerball winners though, they just piss us off). None of them get the recognition that they deserve but are all around us and all inspirational. 

The grimace of death

Finally, there are those heroes are inspire us just by making it through. Cancer survivors, conjoined twins and Floridians in the winter. These are the folks that survive when no one else could, these are our real-life Katnisses and Petas. But sadly, they get little love and even less respect. 

And That Stops Here!

As a survivor myself (but not of cancer or of being born attached to my sister), I face the ridicule of skeptics and am incredibly even the butt of jokes. The cruel irony is that where compassion and admiration would be normal, our state-wide struggle can often bring out the very worst in society. We don't want your charity but keep your comments muffled under your scarves (scarfs?) You know, those things that look like a strip of blanket.

All the coats in the whole state

I am guessing that many of you Northies have already skipped to the comment section and let me cut you short there. "But our winter is way colder" is voodoo math and I see right through it. Arbitrary measurements like "temperature" can all be manipulated to argue any point.

Water freezes at 32 degrees. No wait, 0 degrees- I don't need to say anymore.

We all deal in our own way

Our suffering stems from the fact that even though we get warning of these freeze-outs, we can't possibly be expected to handle the pure brutality of the assault. No matter how many t-shirts you layer, it's still no match to the Canadian air. Picture the pure panic of trying to find the heat button in your car, or even socks. This morning I discovered that my office has never had heat. I had no choice but to button up my polo and bunker down. The truth is that although some (all) other parts of the country may experience "harsher" winters, you all signed up for it! We accept hurricanes and cockroaches but the deal is: No Arctic blasts. 

In 2013, Floridians suffered 13 shark attacks and nobody took notice. But you can be sure that the next time a guy from Binghamton gets attacked, the whole country will lose its collective mind. That's because living in upstate NY has that one perk and we all accept that. 

So soldier on my unloved, unsung and unwarm state-mates. Your heroism is an inspiration to a Nation and a true testament to the American spirit.