Sitting on a bench in Boston Common yesterday, 18-year-old Emerson
College student Carly Kaplan was enjoying her lunch under sunny skies as
though Hurricane Sandy hadn’t been there at all.
She was one of many Bostonians yesterday who thought the storm was a breeze.
“I live on the top floor, and we had some leaks, but other than that, we
had power, stayed in and watched movies. We weren’t really affected by
it at all. We looked outside and it was raining and gross and windy, but
we were warm and cozy and having a good time,” Kaplan said.
Down the street at the Revere Hotel Boston Common, most hotel guests had
few complaints about the weather, except to taunt the Hub on the hype
surrounding Sandy.
“One of our Brits described us as ‘a bunch of bloody wimps,’ and said it
wasn’t a storm at all,” said Simon Mais, the hotel’s general manager.
In anticipation of what was expected to be a mighty tempest, the hotel
announced Monday it would open the doors of its movie theater to Boston
residents and tourists who were stranded, and interested in free movies,
but at noon, there were only two viewers.
“It looks like people are pretty much back at work today. I’m happy to
say that I think we all fared very, very well, relative to New York,
which has some major issues going on,” Mais said, adding that the people
who were most peeved about pushing back their travel plans weren’t the
tourists, but the business travelers.
“The people who seemed most frustrated were the people who came here on
business and got stuck, but couldn’t get any work done. Most of the
Europeans are on vacation and a long way from home, so they decided to
take advantage of it, and asked about where to go shopping, and what to
do. They were optimistic about it, but I think they came back a little
bit more disappointed that the shops were closed.”
While several businesses heeded the warnings of local and state
officials who urged employers to let their workers stay safe at home
during the storm, there were a few “non-essential” establishments that
were open for business, one being the burrito chain Boloco.
“With the MBTA shutting down (employers) should have let them go. I know
a lot of people had trouble with the roads, and with trees shutting
down,” Kaplan said, adding, “I think people can live without burritos
for one day.”
The MBTA was running smoothly Tuesday after shutting down for 15 hours, a
move that hasn’t happened since Hurricane Irene last August. The
result, for once, was a near consensus that the T had handled the
situation well.
Mclean Hart, was back on his daily commute yesterday waiting for the bus at South Station.
“When I heard the T was shutting down, I just called my boss and asked
if it was alright if I stayed home (Monday), and he said it was fine. It
was a hurricane, I think its good they shut it down. Better safe than
sorry.”
