I came to this unfortunate realization yesterday when — during a massive storm that spawned a couple tornados and produced hurricane force winds — we lost power. Never mind the fact I thought I was leaving tornados behind when I moved up north. The storms really weren't all that bad, in my opinion. But the power went out and showed no signs of coming back on anytime soon. That's when the panic started to set in.
It was slow at first. My roommate and I just chatted about the weather, our upcoming rent increase, the fact that we're probably not going to get married until we're in our 30s. The conversation naturally moved to our preferred diamond cuts, the dating scene in DC, and then ... the fact that the power was still off. It had been a good 30 minutes by this point. I decided it was time to call the power company.
After spending minutes on the line with a recording and punching in an unfathomable amount of numbers, I was finally told that there was, in fact, a massive power outage in my area. And then the call was disconnected.
What was this? A massive outage? How long would it take to restore my power? After all, I had to do some reading for school, and it was far too dark and ominous outside for me to have an adequate source of natural reading light. Not to mention the fact that I had to prepare a presentation for class. I grew concerned. Was my laptop battery fully charged? Even if it was, would I be able to complete the assignment before my battery died? I was feeling decidedly unsettled.
At this point, my roommate and I continued to talk about the power, or our lack thereof. The rain had stopped; why was there still no power?!? We wondered how massive the outage really was. We realized that we do not own a single flashlight. We came to the conclusion that this could get dicey.
Gloria (my roommate) decided to see what she could find out online. But then — heaven forbid! — we realized our Internet connection was down. Wireless or not, it doesn't work without electricity. We were cut off from the world.
At this point, I knew it was necessary to find out exactly what was happening. So I went to my trusty cell phone to access the Internet via Verizon's trusty network. And then — NOTHING! Nothing but a pale green box of doom informing me that my "Network is unavailable." The Internet was down on my phone too?!?!? What were we to do?
That's when Gloria got a phone call from my mom. Yes, my mom called my roommate. Not only was my Verizon Internet network unavailable, but apparently its regular old phone service dropped out for a while there too. Shortly thereafter, I received two text messages and a voicemail ... apparently there had been a tornado out in Falls Church, and more than 200,000 people were without power.
With this grim news, Gloria went upstairs to take a nap, while I — noticing the clearing skies and desperate for any inkling of sunlight — sat by a window to get the last bit of my required reading out of the way.
By this time, it had been a good two hours since we had first lost power. I decided it was time to give the power company another call. Not that I thought it would do any good to report my outage twice, but past experience had taught me that the power company might have added an estimated time of repair to their recording. Sure enough, after punching in a few more dozen numbers — and after hearing a slightly annoyed recording response that I had, in fact, already reported my outage — I was told that massive storm damage had created outages throughout the region, and it might take DAYS for the repair work to be completed.
That did it. Sure, I had been feeling a little concerned before, but now full-on panic ensued. Days to complete repair work? DAYS?!?!? This was unacceptable! I had to do schoolwork! We didn't have any flashlights in the house! Our food would go bad! I had to watch "So You Think You Can Dance" that evening! And everyone knows that I can't sleep without white noise. I needed my fan! I needed to check my email! And my facebook!
I started making phone calls. Did any of my friends have power? I'd heard it was going to be hot the next day. It was supposed to reach 90! I had to have air conditioning. I had to have power!
And that's when it happened. Four hours after our lights had first flickered and then failed, our power was restored. Suddenly, everything was okay again. The world was at peace. The power was on.
It was in this moment of elation that I realized I'm a slave to modern technology. Excepting the occasional camping trip, I need my modern comforts, day in and day out. I need electricity. I need air conditioning. And I need Internet access. I just can't function without them.
I should've wanted to hang my head in shame. Millions of people in this world could never even dream of these material comforts that I consider necessities. But — for better or worse — I couldn't bring myself to feel even an inkling of guilt. With the calming hum of the air conditioner in the background, and with the soft glow of eco-friendly lightbulbs around me, I felt nothing but joy. The lights were back on in the city.
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