I
haven't quite figured how to gauge my success of surviving this great blizzard
of 2013. I lost power. I shoveled my way out of the driveway with my stepmom. I
lived in a cold house that averaged a temp of 55 degrees with the exception of
the living room; we had a fireplace running all day/night. I lived without
Facebook, twitter, texting, instagram, email, T.V., the internet. But instead,
I took interest with my families lives. We had conversations. We drank beer. We
shared laughs and giggles a few times. We played Clue. We listened to the radio
to hear how everyone else was surviving. That was what life was like. But then
my mom told me to come over because they had power…
I woke up at 4 AM on Saturday in a
strangely cold room. I looked over and my phone appeared to be in a noncharging
state of mind. It dawned on me that we had finally lost power during this
blizzard. A groaned a bit then flopped over and went back to sleep. When
morning finally called for me, I rolled out of bed and saw my father and stepmom
sitting on the couch talking. The fire was blazing in the fire place and the
room was considerably warm. I thought to myself, this should be easy. At least
24 hours of this? NBD.
I sat around most of the day with
fam, reading a book (I actually own a few books, surprisingly enough), and even
played CLUE. I thought about posting shit on Facebook and twitter and
instashit. It was tough. I had some good material to post that would probably
generate thousands of likes and retweets, but then I thought to myself, I
should probably conserve my battery life for more pressing needs, you know,
emergency phone call or something. I also wanted to post pictures of the
blizzard, because I knew how unique they would have been. Instead of your yard,
it would have been mine, maybe with a different choice of filters. I know I’m
quite the picturesque type.
Clue was fun. I hadn't played that
game in years. It was great to get a refresher course in board games. In
another life, I grew an admiration for them, and since lost my way. Oh how I
yearn for the old days… (But the new days are decent too…) So Clue… I lost, by
default. I should have picked the knife instead of the wrench. It was
upsetting. I really thought I had the killer in my crosshair, but nope. I
fucked up.
After Clue, we sat around listening
to the radio. People were calling in about how they were weathering the storm. It
was funny. Better than watching a shitty reality show. Why? Because these were
real people and they weren’t be scripted to do anything. One woman called
saying she was concerned about her front door being blocked by the snow and
that she couldn’t get out. Later in the conversation she made it aware to
everyone that she had a back door she could go out. I mean the stupidity of
people. You can’t write that shit. Another person called in asking if there
were any liquor stores open. I respect a man with priorities. Then the majority
of people were complaining, during the storm, why the power wasn't back on. My
think for why it wasn't back on was simply; well, would you want to go out
there in the storm to fix something…? I sure as fuck didn't want to even leave
my living room. The whole notion got me aggravated. People have this, want now,
mentality. Which leads me to this; there’s a system, there are people out there
who say, “Fuck the system.” Well, let me tell you something, you’re the reason
why the system doesn't function properly. It’s because you keep offsetting the goddamn fucking system!
Several points during the chaos of
Nemo, I would check Facebook to get an idea how the outside world was doing.
Many people died in this storm. I’m talking about actual deaths. I’m talking
about figurative, fictitious deaths. People lost power and they were bored.
What would they do without Facebook or twitter or texting their bff’s? I was
more concerned for their wellbeing than the elderly neighbors next door with no
heat and a junk pacemaker. I for one
thought it was fun. I enjoyed myself. Yes, it was fucking cold in my house, but
at the end of the day, I kept thinking, it could be worse. And let me tell you,
it can always be worse…
p.s.
the power is back on! Thank Christ! I almost died…
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