Hurricanes vs Protests

When we lived in Puerto Rico, there were two times that hurricanes were (maybe) headed our direction.  Here in Thailand there are political protests with occasional rumors of tank movements and coups.  Different events, yet they feel surprisingly similar.  Here is an analysis:


1.  Church-  at no point was church ever cancelled because of a hurricane threat.  In contrast, two weeks ago we got to go home from church two hours early because of crowds in the street. 
Winner:  Protests.


2.  Food- in PR I boiled all of our potatoes and eggs, anticipating power outages and food shortages.  Yesterday we drove to Chris's work to retrieve an ice cream cake that was going to melt when they cut the power to the government compound.
Winner:  Protests


3.  School- I think I remember Lucy coming home a little early one day from preschool because of hurricane concerns.  Although many schools here were closed today, Patana British International School thumbed its nose at danger and stayed open.  Any country that stared down the Blitz is not going to close because some people are standing in a street.
Winner:  Education


4.  Anticipation- I have to admit, getting ready for a hurricane was a little bit of a thrill.  Checking the hurricane tracker online, licking your finger and holding it up to the wind...
The protests, on the other hand, are just annoying, in the way traffic jams are annoying.  Admit it, if you had to pick between a hurricane or a traffic jam, you just might pick hurricane too.
Winner:  Hurricane.


5. Personal touches:  A hurricane is not considerate.  It will just wipe you out.   The "Shut-Down Bangkok" protests today on the other hand, while blocking all major intersections in the city, left a few traffic lanes open, "because we don't want to inconvenience the tourists."
Winner:  Good luck with that.


6.  Danger:  If the hurricane had showed up, it would win this category hands down.  But a hurricane that never showed vs. a bunch of polite protesters?  Bit of a tie, really.