Powerless

When the lights went out across a great part of our city yesterday, it added an extra dimension to a regularly scheduled day that we weren't counting on. Two separate and unrelated incidents caused a power outage that started before lunch and lasted (in some areas) until almost supper.

The power at our home was out for less than an hour, but a block away (where My Youngest goes to school) and beyond were out for more than half of the school day.

We came home and went about our business as usual. The power was on which enabled us to have a hot meal; hot water and heat were plentiful and outwardly we were unaffected by the drama of the day. That is, until I noticed the light on the phone flashing.

Upon further investigation I realized that since our phone, Internet and cable are all supplied by one provider (who must have been affected by the power outage) ... none of the above were working.

We each served up our supper plates and went to our separate spots in the house where we normally dine with the company of TV, Internet or X-Box Live to entertain our minds as we dine.

I took my plate and didn't know where to go. No TV? No Internet? What was I to do? My Middle Son soon joined me in the kitchen when he realized that my assumption that the cable was out was correct (My Youngest continued to play his video game off-line and was relatively unaffected).

So we sat down at the kitchen table and talked. We enjoyed an impromptu conversation that never would have happened if all of our luxury services had not been out of commission.

I have often marvelled at the positive that comes out of a power outage. We have become a society that takes these extravagances for granted.

Not only do we assume that our lights are going to turn on at the flick of a switch; hot water will spew out of our hot water taps on demand (cold water for that matter); heat and air conditioning are as convenient as that thermostat on our wall. Not only do we have refrigerators, stoves and deep freezes to store and cook our food ... we have food to fill them.

We are fortunate when life goes according to plan. Sometimes it is not a bad thing to become 'powerless' to remind us of all that we take for granted. We often find more memorable moments when the power goes out and unites us at the kitchen table.

Our homes may have been without the luxuries that fully functional power allows, but we gained some powerful family moments instead.