Power outages
I love it when the power goes out, and folks around here act like it's the end of the damn world or something.
It even makes the news "power lines damaged, thousands without electricity", like a few hours without voltage is dangerous for anyone who isn't on life support.
You see folks walking around fiddling with their cell phones more than usual, sitting in their cars listening to the radio, talking tough in the stores like their weathering a fucking hurricane or something...
Endlessly entertaining.
I don't tell them that when I was a kid the power use to go out for weeks at a time in the winter (and the repair trucks wouldn't go anywhere that had snow deeper than their axles). I don't talk about using the wood stove as a kid to melt snow for drinking water, or about being scared to death that the fire would go out while I was at school and I would have to re-start it, risking an ass chewing or an ass whupping for filling the house with smoke if I did it wrong, or how cold a person can get growing up in a house that has no insulation, no drywall, no heat, and no windows in one section. I don't tell them that I could light and trim an oil lamp without burning myself before most kids could tie their shoes properly, or mention the three to five cords of seasoned oak I split by hand every fall from the time I was old enough to lift a splitting maul, because my father was working out of town and my mother was busy raising my sister and/or having a nervous breakdown.
I don't tell them about the winters when the bills didn't get paid and we'd be cold for half a season, or the seasons we spent "camping", or how I got sick of the taste of venison as a kid because there were some years when that was all we had to eat for months on end (and were glad to have anything).
I don't tell them these things because I know there are lots of folks who have it worse, and who have had it worse. I just never cease to be amazed by how some folks react to something as simple as a power outage.
On a totally unrelated note, you ever notice that even the most boring TV news story can be written in such a way that it sounds like a huge epic world shaking drama when it hits the air?
It even makes the news "power lines damaged, thousands without electricity", like a few hours without voltage is dangerous for anyone who isn't on life support.
You see folks walking around fiddling with their cell phones more than usual, sitting in their cars listening to the radio, talking tough in the stores like their weathering a fucking hurricane or something...
Endlessly entertaining.
I don't tell them that when I was a kid the power use to go out for weeks at a time in the winter (and the repair trucks wouldn't go anywhere that had snow deeper than their axles). I don't talk about using the wood stove as a kid to melt snow for drinking water, or about being scared to death that the fire would go out while I was at school and I would have to re-start it, risking an ass chewing or an ass whupping for filling the house with smoke if I did it wrong, or how cold a person can get growing up in a house that has no insulation, no drywall, no heat, and no windows in one section. I don't tell them that I could light and trim an oil lamp without burning myself before most kids could tie their shoes properly, or mention the three to five cords of seasoned oak I split by hand every fall from the time I was old enough to lift a splitting maul, because my father was working out of town and my mother was busy raising my sister and/or having a nervous breakdown.
I don't tell them about the winters when the bills didn't get paid and we'd be cold for half a season, or the seasons we spent "camping", or how I got sick of the taste of venison as a kid because there were some years when that was all we had to eat for months on end (and were glad to have anything).
I don't tell them these things because I know there are lots of folks who have it worse, and who have had it worse. I just never cease to be amazed by how some folks react to something as simple as a power outage.
On a totally unrelated note, you ever notice that even the most boring TV news story can be written in such a way that it sounds like a huge epic world shaking drama when it hits the air?
posted by Murph | 8:44 PM
2 Comments:
When I came across your site, I have to admit your title caught my eye and I had to read more. I really enjoyed reading your posts. You maybe the Tired and Angry Man, I am the Tired and Angry Woman. Thanks for giving me a smile.
Pleasure to meet you, glad I could supply a chuckle or two :)
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