Localized Outage


Dear Eugene,

Apr 23, 1:33 a.m.
Assigned
Apr 23, 2:25 a.m.
North of xxxx ST, South of yyyy ST, West of zzzz AVE, East of xyz PL. Cable fault
120
Apr 23, 7:03 a.m.

Such is the status of a very localized power outage in my area, with my house very uncannily situated right in the middle of the (in)action, like an epicenter.  I think the map marker actually aims at the very top of my skull.

I walked my dog this morning and wondered if I should knock on a random door on the next street where it was just a normal night with taken-for-granted electricity, and ask for 4 minutes of microwave time to heat up my kids' lunch for their thermos.

I know for some culture and at places usually much less affluent, it would be an honor for a person's door to be knocked on this way by one's neighbor.  But the struggle for honor here is of a different sort, such as having to wake my kids to the realization of their deepest fear, that, yes, the wifi is down when the power is out, and they might want to leave the house early to hit a sweet wifi spot beyond the red disaster zone that is their home and tend to their "urgent homework needs."

Then I ran through with my kids a list of items that might concern them, such as the wired line in our living room is the only phone that would still work when there's a power outage, why there is a steady beep coming from the garage (the garage door back-up battery informing it's ready for action and just as ready to die in service), and, yes, the hair-dryer would not work when there is no electricity and no amount of prayer or wishful thinking could change that and hence they should for the day consider a different hairstyle or self image or both.

The final item I related before leaving for work was: please be kind to each other and don't fight over the washroom or whatever.  My son took issue with this point and asked me for a fight.  (My daughter was perfectly fine with my valedictory; go figure.)  I was stupid and took the bait and quickly realized it's too late to spit it out.  I proceeded to give a lecture in form of a sonnet, short but not exactly sweet, recounted how I was aware of the outage since 3:31 am and worked in the dark since 5:30 to get them ready to face an inconvenient morning.  I even walked my dog twice to calm her amidst the strange commotion.  But none of these matters.  His words were aiming too for my skull because he didn't like what he heard.

That's right: being likable, not necessarily honorable, is the currency of human exchange this part of the world, where everything runs honorably well all by itself, by a certain blind watch-maker if you must call him God.

The outage is over now.  I have faith in a smooth evening.

Yours, Alex

Comments

  1. TimApril 23, 2019 at 2:16 PM

    "Spit out the bait," eh? How I wish that I'd have done that, on so many occasions!

    ReplyDelete
  2. RoseApril 24, 2019 at 7:33 AM

    Taking things and people and God for granted; adults and teens alike. And thank God for creating women 😉

    ReplyDelete

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