Recent hurricane Irene swept over New Jersey
In a true slacker fashion, we didn’t bother to prep much: the day before the storm Kevin bought some candles, lazily scouted the stores for lantern batteries, found none of course. We snickered over panicky squirrel people stocking up on generators, batteries and ramen noodles as we sipped wine while preparing for my 26th birthday party. Once the storm was over and we had electricity Sunday morning, we were certain that the hurricane was grossly overhyped.
Then, around lunchtime, the power went out. We waited, and waited… Went out for a walk, saw carnage and devastation as Raritan river seeped into the town. It got dark, we lit candles. Packed the fridge with ice. And waited.
By Monday night I was hyperventilating and the food in the fridge was starting to come alive. We frantically cooked everything to prevent it from growing brains and taking over our house. Zaiki asked for TV but were content with “it’s broken”. We showered at a friends’ house, like homeless people. Maya screamed “I want light!” while she went to bed.
By Tuesday night we acquired a generator. And then the lights came back.
This little August adventure got me thinking of how good do we really have it and all the comforts that surround modern men. And how the electric companies like PSE&G have so much power over us. And how I am not at all tough and how much I love my hair dryer, among other things. And how the hygiene and cleanliness of pre-electricity society were not at all on the modern level. Candles definitely don’t provide adequate lighting, and if you can’t see dirt, no need to clean it, right?
One thing I found surprising was how easy it was to entertain the zaiki. I guess we are doing something right, since they were pretty content throughout the ordeal. No TV withdrawals, no really big tantrums. I think (and if you ask Kevin, I’m sure he’ll agree) that I handled the power outage far worse than the girls did. Now we have a generator. J
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