Lights Out

Count the electrical outlets in your room.
My not-so-huge-but-not-obnoxiously-tiny dorm room has approximately 9. Not to mention one outlet has a power strip connected to it.

It's rather late on a Friday night, or Saturday morning I suppose if you want to get into technicalities (which I don't, it's late...anywho). My phone is plugged in and charging. My laptop is plugged in and I'm using one of my two ethernet cable outputs. I have a lamp, blowdryer, coffee maker, microwave, Zune HD charger, speakers, digital piano, and a mini fridge all sucking up energy. Oh, and my rather bright flourescent overhead light it allowing my room to be brighter than 2pm on a June afternoon.

What if I didn't have that power?
Look at what you have plugged in - what would you be doing if your power disappeared?

Last night about half of campus and the surrounding city lost power. Driving through campus and seeing that suddenly the street lights stop and a dark abyss of dorms and parking lots loom in the distance might just be one of the creepiest moments of my life.

I have never in my life noticed how much of a difference light pouring out from behind cheap plastic blinds and pretty curtains makes.

Being forced into utter darkness makes us uncomfortable. Suddenly we're isolated and uneasy and unable to see clearly what's ahead.

Tonight, most people have left campus. We have power, but almost every room is dark, thus it looks pretty similar to last night only with street lights, and I don't feel like a potential apocalypse might be occuring. So, it's better, but still creepy.

I've seen more of the stars in the last two nights than I have in a long time. There's something to remembering that we're all a part of something so much bigger than just our little worlds. Behind each window is a person, with a life and a story and a purpose. Maybe a blackout is an excellent chance to realize that as a people we're so plugged into our world that we forget to unplug every now and then and see the world from a new angle.