When The Power Goes out...
by Bill Gouveia for the Sun Chronicle
(this column appeared in the Sun Chronicle on Monday, March 12, 2018)
I was one of the fortunate few that never lost power last week, despite a couple of pretty powerful storms.
Still, I have gone without electricity for prolonged periods of time before. It is not fun. It can be costly, unhealthy and downright dangerous for seniors and those with medical issues.
Like most, I never think my power comes back fast enough. And I complain about it.
Logic tells us we can’t control Mother Nature. When trees and telephone poles are tossed around like toothpicks, wires are going to go down. Roads are going to be blocked. Crews have to wait until it is safe to start making repairs.
But logic can fade quickly. As the food in the refrigerator starts to stink, so can your attitude. The lower the temperature in the house drops, the lower your spirits sink. Before you know it, you are going through the “Three Stages of Power Loss.”
Stage 1: Adventure. You prepared and now is your time. You break out the generator. You find and light the candles. You locate that stash of “storm food” you carefully stored away. You grab the 20 pounds of batteries you bought just for this occasion. You gather the kids, toast marshmallows in the fireplace and laugh about times gone by.
Stage 2: Anger. The kids are whining. You smell and there is no hot water. You’ve watched 12 Disney movies on your phone and don’t want to go to the car to charge it again. That family you hate a few streets over got their power back three hours ago. The electric company’s website says your power won’t return until midnight tomorrow, causing you to throw a battery through the radio. A tree is resting on your garage, there is water in the basement and your blood pressure and blood sugar are competing for the highest number.
Stage 3: Blame. You power company has one lousy job, to make things work in your house. Now they can’t even do that. They should have anticipated that “bomb cyclone” thing. The four transformers that caught fire should have been replaced years ago. All those property taxes we pay and the town can’t make sure they trim trees everywhere? Why is MY town always losing power, yet that town next door always seems to be lit up? I told my spouse we should have bought the generator.
Then the lights come back on, and things slowly return to normal. The Celtics game is back on TV. The ice cream isn’t melting in the freezer.
You are back to complaining about the price of heating oil, microwaving the leftovers and not going to town meeting to support that budget increase requested by the department of public works in order to trim the trees you were just complaining about.
This past week produced some legitimate complaints concerning state supervision of utilities and their job performance. But boy, are we spoiled.
Our utility companies and communities can always do better. But wouldn’t it be a novel approach if we expressed our appreciation for them when things run well as fervently as we complain about them when they don’t?
After all — we could be in Puerto Rico.
Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and longtime local official. He can be emailed at billsinsidelook@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @Billinsidelook.
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