Powerless on a Wednesday

[altivo]

Almost got to close up and go home early. At 6:15 pm the power in Harvard went out. Apparently the whole city or nearly so was affected. No lights other than the battery emergency lights, no computers, no internet (yay), so people left. We decided if the power didn't come back by 7:00 we'd just close early. I went around turning off switches and shutting down the machines that were on UPS power. Of course, at 6:55 the lights came back on. People must have been just sitting out in the parking lot (why, I don't know, with the temperature at 3°F.) because they poured right back in the doors. (And some were incensed that the network was down and took a good ten minutes to get going again.)

Some of those who came in after power was restored seemed astonished that the power could go off like that. I don't know what planet they've been living on, as outages in this part of the state are far from rare. However, they couldn't believe that WalMart and McDonald's closed down because the electricity was off. And the traffic lights on US-14 were "all blinking red". And there were no street lights. Duh.

In fact, when I did leave for home at 8 pm, at least one traffic light in town was still flashing red, but there was so little traffic it hardly mattered. The roads were all covered with snow and ice again, and hardly anyone was stirring. (Least of all a mouse.)

Comments

[doco.livejournal.com]

It seems 2008 continues the trends of 2007 over where you are.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yep.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

But we didn't close for the tornado. ;p

[hrrunka]

:mutters something about kids these days, and their need for some third-world experience...

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes. Especially since these were mostly adults. The idea that McDonald's could be closed seemed to outrage them more than anything else they could imagine. I'm afraid they would starve to death in short order if a real problem came along. Or maybe I should be glad of that.

[hrrunka]

I must be getting old. I've noticed I tend to bundle quite a few adults into the "kids these days" category, particularly when they get upset by things such as lack of Net or mobile phone coverage... ;)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

We are in close agreement so often it's scary. ;D

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

It's probably because the line between the two is so blurred as to be indistinguishable. Actually, I think the biggest difference seems that adults act worse when it comes to getting upset about something... but that's just my experience talking ;)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm not sure which is worse. Kids scream and yell and throw stuff, sometimes breaking things. Adults scream and yell and throw lawsuits, which can be even more serious nuisances than the broken stuff, it's true.

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

I've met-and lived with, on more than one occasion- adults who throw and break stuff... and since kids almost never sue, I'm going with adults :P

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

You'll be pleased to know, Alt, that I leave immediatly when the power goes out in a library..no skulking around in the parking lot :P Next time, make it 6:30 instead of 6:15 :P

[altivo.livejournal.com]

When I gain the ability to actually schedule power outages, they will hit earlier rather than later. ;p

[gabrielhorse.livejournal.com]

LOL

[typographer.livejournal.com]

My capacity to be stunned about people's lack of understanding of electricity was pretty much burned out a few years ago when the local paper ran a story after interviewing customer service people at the public utility district after a particularly long and widespread outage after some ice storms.

The one that stuck in my brain: "I know you're just withholding power from my house on purpose! You have to be! I just saw a car drive by with its headlights on! If they have power, so should I!"

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The city hospital is two blocks up the street. They have emergency generators of course. People call and ask us if we have power. We say no. They want to know why not, if the hospital has it. Aren't we a city department? Well, technically, no, we're not, but there's no point in going into that. (Or in trying to explain what an emergency generator is.)

[saythename.livejournal.com]

Power out? Okay, I can deal.

Not wanting McWalmart out?

@.@

[altivo.livejournal.com]

It's simple. These are folks who don't know how to live without McD and Walmart. Just as (I'm sure) they can't figure out how to live without the television turned on.

[saythename.livejournal.com]

I can understand that.

*family sits around a dark t.v. in the
cold*

"What do we do mom?"

*mom shushes* "I don't know, wait for the
box to tell us"