subscribe to our feed.I pondered doing this editorial for a few days and I can’t keep it in anymore. I think most people expect a rant about Duke Energy’s response. Or maybe I should go after Time Warner’s outages. Well, I’m not going to speak to any of that really. Well, except to say that I think it’s telling when I hear people going AWOL about not having cable for a few days. Especially in light of the fact that people have trees in their roofs or living rooms. Perspective would be a good word. But I think there are more important things to note.
It is amazing to note that hurricane force winds were observed in Louisville and other places around the tri-state. Hurricane Ike was felt in Cincinnati! Okay, so it was only a depression as it came anywhere near us, but it was impressive anyway. Once the clean up started and damage was assessed an amazing thing started to happen. People came outside. It was like a scene from War of the Worlds. Suddenly, people were helping each other clear out debris and get siding back.
As the day turned into night, an eerie scene emerged. The stillness of the night was incredible. It was dark, quiet, and serene. It really did remind me of alien invasion scenes. Or maybe after a tremendous catastrophe. As I walked around the neighborhood, an even more stark scene came to forefront. People were outside again. They were hanging out with neighbors. They were grilling out together. They were sharing beer, wine, food, and fires. I discovered that there were a lot more teenagers in my neighborhood than I could have imagined.
All in all, our community came alive during this outage. People were outside, away from their TVs and computers. Kids were everywhere. People shared and helped one another out. It was simply amazing. As the full moon shone last night, my wife and I marveled at the result. Sure, there were commercial losses, food losses, property losses, frustrations, etc. But the net result for my community was positive in my mind. And I am happy to note that only one small story of looting has been reported in Cincinnati. That makes me proud of my city. But, as soon as the power came back on, people stayed inside again. Maybe we should have a day long power outage more often?
People who had been tied to their PDA’s found themselves free. Frenetic lives came to a crashing halt. Conveniences that were taken for granted were suddenly appreciated. In fact, my son cheered when he could simply turn the light on to go to bathroom. And occassions like this give us a reason to ask neighbors for things. Isn’t it interesting that we all amass very similar items? Ah, capitalism and individualism. But the most telling thing to me has been the comments about disconnection with technology. The effect has been similar to the technology fast that I recommended earlier this year. The overall word would be calming. Disconnecting from those things is very calming. Hmmm. More community, sharing, tranquility, peace - amidst frustration and chaos. I find that very interesting.
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Paul- Good stuff here. I missed all the excitement, but really like your take. I am living in a developing country, but is interesting to see how much less dependent it is on technology to function though this is changing very quickly) — I think people here could actually survive without power for quite a long time due to the amount of local farming, fresh markets, etc. Anyway, it was cool to get your perspective.