If you’ve never had to cook a can of baked beans on a small hibachi grill, or if your party invitation did not include the acronyms BYOBW (bring your own bottled water) or BYOC (bring your own candles), then you have never been to a hurricane party.
With the multitude of hurricanes seemingly heading our way this year, here is a brief overview of some things that you should keep in mind for your hurricane party.
Finding a place to bum around for a week should be your number one priority. For safety reasons during a hurricane, FAU will have to close its campuses down for major hurricanes – including dorms and the student apartments.
Within your close circle of friends, try to find out who has the sweetest pad – the bigger, the better. You’ll want to prepare for other friends who may get wind of the party, and may start showing up randomly at your door.
If your friend uses phrases such as “swinging bachelor pad,” “retirement community” or “my parents’ house” in describing their place, then please just please disregard him and go straight to the next person in your group of friends.
Now that you know where you’re going, let’s talk a little about what you should bring.
While not bringing alcohol to a party would be considered a classic faux pas under normal circumstances, for hurricane parties it’s a little different.
As much as I would like to live off of tequila shots and Jí_ger bombs, for this particular week, it’s simply not going to happen. Bring bottled water or soda because trust me, waking up the day after a hurricane with a hangover is not fun.
When at a hurricane party, you should be prepared for the long haul. A minimum of a week’s worth of the three C’s – canned food, candles and clothes – should be taken as high priority.
Also, unless you have no problems with being quarantined in the house for a whole week, be sure to bring basic hygiene products. Sleeping bags are also recommended so you don’t have to sleep on cold tile.
That initial shock of hearing the electricity shut off during the storm seems to send a new sense of awareness into people. Hearing the pounding rain hitting the roof and watching the sliding glass door shake to no end can send a strange range of emotions through the party.
On the afternoon of the next day when the electricity is still off, things will get boring fast. Cabin fever will start to set in and the whole party will dissolve into one ongoing inside joke. To avoid this, bring board games or a deck of cards for entertainment. Risk or Monopoly are not recommended because of their unique trait of eventually pissing somebody off after they’ve lost.
When trees are no longer on the sidewalks, ending the party is just like ending any regular party. When you’re ready for people to leave just act really annoyed and start making not-so-subtle hints about wanting people to leave.
If you were the host, you should have amassed a good amount of leftovers from the party, which is always a good thing.
