I’ve seen far too many “hot takes” of northerners basically laughing at the situation Texas (and Oklahoma) is in. It is record cold here. This morning was -12° and it’s been staying at it around zero since the weekend. Even that is cold for New England. 1/n

On top of the cold, we have several inches of snow. Today is Tuesday, with another round of snow currently falling. The snow from Sunday has not been cleaned, we don’t have the infrastructure necessary. The electric grid is overworked, causing rolling blackouts. 2/n

I bought my house a shovel on Thursday. As far as general winter preparedness, I haven’t seen many remote starters, any snow tires, and people are lacking good, thick winter coats. Why? Because they have never needed them before. 3/n

All of this added with the power being out is leaving people literally out in the cold. I’ve had several friends who’ve had pipes burst, even after letting them drip. A Texan power company decided to turn off operations over the weekend and now will implement surge pricing. 4/n

SURGE pricing to people without power... so during an economically devastating pandemic, these people will now need to worry (more) about how to pay their bills once they can get power back. 5/n

Hot take of mine #1: after realizing how much preparing I personally did, I want to know what my state/city done for the homeless population. I want to do more, I want to help (if you have any resources please share) 6/n

Hot take #2: other than the “lol Texas shut down bcuz cold” jokes, I’ve seen a decent amount of political commentary on red states, socialism, TX vs CA, etc. As a Democrat living here, I wish things were different. This wouldn’t be so dire if even small changes were made. 7/n

... I ask you to look at this from my shoes. Or the shoes from anyone in Texas who voted for Beto and almost ousted Ted Cruz. I grew up privileged in Massachusetts, but even for me the “where’s ur socialism now Texas hahah” jokes come off as elitist. 8/n

I wouldn’t feel this way if I didn’t move to Oklahoma, but immersing myself in a different political arena has strengthened my beliefs and the beliefs of those I surround myself with. I still have that glimmer of hope that I can help make a difference. 9/n

I’m going to bed now and thanks if you made it through my ramblings. Just, be kind to others, and see how you can help your community. Ok yea that’s all 10/10. Fin.