- Like most Americans, I followed the story of The Big
Black-Out Of 2003.
-
- I, too, wondered about the cause as I watched the
news stories unfold.
-
- The cause of the event was more important to me, but
the focal point of the incident has been more upon "Black Out Stories"
...."Where Were YOU When The Lights Went Out?"....."How
Did New York Cope With Darkness?"...."How Much Food Was Spoiled
For Lack Of Refridgeration?"....etc......
-
- Well, I'm sorry....I have a hard time getting worked
up over New York City spending 12 hours without power.....It's THE Major
East Coast City, I know....It's "The Big Apple", storied in song
and type,it's concrete canyons echoing with the throngs of Humanity that
make it their home......blah....blah.....blah........
-
- Last December my area in North Carolina -- The Raleigh/Durham
area,to be precise -- was hit by a major surprise Ice Storm (anyone remember
that? We do!). True, this storm effected far more than my area, but I can
only speak of my own experiences first hand, so this little diatribe is
by no means general or all-encompassing in focus.
-
- So....New York loses power in August for 12 whole hours...in
the Summer....and that power is restored in relatively short order.
-
- Last DECEMBER, we lost power for A WEEK......In the Winter.
-
- This was THOUSANDS of People with No Heat, No Light,
No Hot Water, and at times, No Hope of a Merry Christmas either, with no
power being restored any time soon. That 21st Century storm put our lifestyle
back to the 19th Century --and kept us there for DAYS.
-
- But hey--at least we did not have to worry about keeping
our food fresh, right?
-
- I scavenged firewood.......my family cooked meals
in an iron frying pan over that fireplace I struggled daily to keep supplied......my
neighbors and I pooled our resources to keep each other going.......and
going.....and going.
-
- Nerves frayed......the lack of hot water and the fireplace
cooking got tiresome. As dusk fell, and the sun deserted us, leaving the
street pitch black, we lit candles...at times the house resembled The Shaolin
Temple, we had so many candles lit.....Reading by candlelight was the only
entertainment (and thank providence and some planning that we had candles!)
Oh, we did have a battery-powered radio, but that had to be used sparingly
as did every expendable and suddenly necessary resource
- (as you can imagine, all these things became scarce commodities
at any stores within reach as the emergency continued)......
-
- I'm not going to beat the point to death...we survived
it.
-
- Some people did not however. There were many cases
of immigrants who asphyxiated from fumes when they tried using outdoor
grills and charcoal inside closed dwellings to keep warm.....they died
trying to survive, victims of either an ignorance of the english language
(a Warning Label on a bag of charcoal does no good when the person with
the bag cannot read english ) ...or perhaps they were victims of desperation.
-
- So again, sorry...but I just cannot work up much
sympathy or angst over New York City being without power for 12 whole hours
in August.
-
- In fact, I'm sick of hearing how "tough"
New York is for surviving this.
-
- They are selling "I Survived The Black-Out"
t-shirts.
-
- The Government is now giving New York City FIVE
MILLION DOLLARS in Emergency Relief Funds for surviving 12 lousy hours
without Broadway Shows and Air Conditioning.......
-
- Big City...Big Deal.
-
- New York--Get Over Yourself.
-
- --Mike Harris
- Chapel Hill, N.C.
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