Rant #1,968: Rock You Like a Hurricane

Hurricane Harvey is soon slated to slam into the Texas coast, affecting thousands of people.

This is not anything to ignore, and authorities have said that when the evacuation order goes out, those impacted must leave their homes.

No suggestions. No asking. No cajoling.

You gotta go, and you gotta go now.

I would expect such a potentially deadly weather disturbance, a Category 2 storm, would have a name other than Harvey.

The name Harvey to me is a nice one, one that you don't hear about that often anymore.

I once knew an actual Harvey, very briefly in school.

We had just moved into Rochdale Village, South Jamaica, Queens, a new development that had its own school, P.S. 30.

We had just moved into the new school from portable classrooms that were used as the building was being constructed.

Anyway, in my second grade class, for a short spell, was a guy named Harvey. He was seven years old like the rest of us, but he stood out for a variety of reasons, or at least I think he stood out,.

He actually had wisps of gray hair in his head. At seven years old. I had never seen anything like that before, but yes, his black mane had dots of gray hair in the back.

He also had one other peculiar feature.

In the back of his head, he had what I would call a divot, but it might have been something else, I don't know.

But the divot was there, and he used to show it to us.

He could literally put a dime in that divot and it would stay there.

He often showed us this feat, and we were completely amazed.

That is all I remember of Harvey. I am hoping he is still with us, and I wonder if he can still fit a dime--or maybe now, years later, with inflation, a quarter--into that divot, if he still has it.

So when I hear about Hurricane Harvey, I just cannot equate such a potentially devastating weather event with the name Harvey, because the only Harvey I ever knew was such a nice guy with gray hair and a divot in his head where he could put a dime and it would stay there.

I have heard of other Harveys--Harvey Haddix, Harvey Wallbanger, heck, even Laurence Harvey--and they all seemed like good people, even if the second of those I just named wasn't a real person. Just the sound of the name "Harvey Wallbanger" had a nice ring to it.

I just cannot believe that the Harvey that is in the news today is thought to be such a horrible thing.

I think that that goes back to that Harvey from my second grade class. He was such a nice guy, how can a hurricane be named after him?

I can see Hurricane Dragana, Hurricane Horatio, Hurricane Barnabas, but Hurricane Harvey?

No, it just doesn't go.

I wish the people of Texas well. I think they may need all the help they can get.

Have a nice weekend. Speak to you again on Monday.