Categories: uncategorized
Date: 02 June 2006 15:41:57
So today when I was in my final lecture the mother called me on my mobile (which was on vibrate). I was sitting in the back row next to the door and as it was very odd that anyone would be calling me from home as no-one should be home, I left the lecture and called her back. She was just letting me know that our area had a blackout (and hence she'd shut the pharmacy she works at early) and was letting me know that I may have trouble getting home and that there was nothing to eat really without the joys of electricity. I'd known about the blackout for over an hour because another guy who lives near me had also had a call from someone telling him about it. However it is very rare for such things to last very long so I wasn't too concerned. However when I was nearing my station an 1.5 hours later and everything was still looking very dark I was a tad concerned. Not because I'm scared of the dark or was going to die of starvation, but because between the station and my house there is a 6 lane highway. And it was peak hour on a Friday and all the traffic lights were out and there is no median strip on that section of highway and it was raining and dark and it was all a bit concerning. My parents pick me up from the station but I cross the highway first. And with no traffic lights there was no way they'd be able to get across either due to the traffic.
So I was very pleased to see two very brave police officers standing in the middle of the highway pretending to be traffic lights. They had the cycle down pat and it was all going smoothly. On my way down to where the parents pick me up, I noticed that a Chinese restaurant had people inside at candle lit tables. So I stored this information in my head.
Once home I realised how much I do stuff that uses electricity. And remembered that I finished my bread this morning. So I called the Chinese place and they were quite cheerful and said they were open but orders took a bit longer than usual as they had no lights. So I ordered my take away and did sudoku for 45 minutes. Then the mother and I did another mission up to the Chinese place and to drop off a car in the station area for the brother who gets home late. Noted that the lights were still out so we left the car on our side of the highway because I figured it would be easier for the brother to cross the highway without lights at midnight than for us to cross and get back at 8pm.
Home for a hot meal that I appreciated ever so much (did I mention that today is possibly the coldest day we've had this year?) and some more faffing around (we only had 3 candles) with sudokus and crosswords. Then called the father who the mother had diverted to the grandparents' house due to the lack of traffic lights or dinner and hailed him home. Then he arrived. And the lights came back on.
So yes, I am very thankful for shelter and food and warm clothes and I can't fathom how so many people live on the streets, particularly in winter. But any time of year. Being cold and wet and hungry really sucks.