Saturday, September 30, 2017

Giving a beer to the power guy



It was worth the effort

With all the news of people being without power due to ice storms I thought of a story of a similar occurrence. I do feel for these folks shivering in the cold during a holiday. Trust me, I do understand no heat but what about the summertime.
There have been ice storms around here with the power cut off by falling branches. I even had my power line to the house buried thinking it would be safer. What a nimrod I am.
So when the power goes off in the winter, I light the stove with matches and have some heat. I move from the computer to the pencil and paper and snuggle under a few more blankets. Then again I don’t live in a place where there is a ton of snow and the grocery store within walking distance is closed. I guess we all learn how to survive.
Even with the power being out for several days after a hurricane, there was a rocking chair on the front porch, a radio headphone, and an acoustic guitar. It is actually exciting to adjust your daily habit from the mundane to the unexpected.
If the water is still running then the plumbing works and life does not get disgusting. Without electricity the refrigerator is emptied and when the sun goes down, it is time to go to sleep and when the sun comes up it is time to wake up. Reading by sunlight is still available as long as your battery last. Or you can go old school and open a printed book. Suddenly television doesn’t seem so important.
The point is one summer a transformer was blown in our neighborhood. Heard the explosion, the lights went out, the fans stopped and suddenly summer heat became more aware. As the beer warmed in the summer air, all the neighbors came outside to watch the repairs.
While we were in shorts and t-shirts sitting in lawn chairs, a large white truck from the electricity company pulled up the gravel alley. While we went about our frustration and sweat, these guys went about their usual routine of putting on rubber clothing, climbing ladders, checking connections that could immediately end existence is the wire was live, then making plans of the procedure to repair the problem.
One transformer was removed and another replace that also blew up. All this show was viewed as live television by the neighborhood. The electricity truck started up and rolled down the alley. There was an inaudible groan in the neighborhood. Had they been defeated?
On the hot summer day we contained our frustration with jokes and comments over fences and watching ice picked up from a store that had a generator melt. There was nothing else to do.
A short while later, the electricity truck returned and the neighborhood became anxious again. Perhaps there was hope for a fix. Again the actors to this play climbed up their ladders and did their ritual duty in a pattern practiced over and over again. A new transformer was bolted in place and the switch was thrown using a long yellow pole.
Eureka! There was power!
A roar rose in the neighborhood with clapping and cheers. It was if we had just won the war.
I stood up as I heard the fans starting up in the house and walked over to the guys who had spent so much time on a wooden pole trying to bring power to a bunch of over indulgent power users. As the sweating guys gathered around their truck planning their next assault on the outage, I handed each a warm beer and a warm “thank you”.
They seem to enjoy an acknowledgement of their efforts and we all raise a toast to their success. I knew they had to move on to their next mission, as I also was required.
Whether a warm beer on a hot summer day offered to workers who are hired and trained by companies we pay for every month made a difference or not but I had to do it. They waved as they went off to their next assignment and I felt good.

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