What is a necessity? And what is not?

[NorthSideSox72]

I got the below email from a friend who lives in California, where recent storms have wreaked havoc on utilities. This is not a forward from who-knows-where; my friend wrote it. It contains no political or religious message, and is not intended to spur any action. It just made me think about what things we have in our lives that we call "necessities", and "basic services". It reminds us they aren't so basic, and maybe aren't necessities at all.

 

Enjoy...

 

On Saturday the entire county was pulled into darkness by incredible rains, rising rivers, and hurricane force winds which brought down the power grid and closed all the roads into and out of town.  Around 3 a.m. this morning the electricity came back on after 40 hours without power. I had fallen asleep with the windows open, the cool night air soothing as I lay nestled under the comforter.  Now I was jarred awake, coughing as the hot dry air from the furnace raked my parched throat. 

 

I'd spent the better part of the last two days with only the light of a headlamp, and of course the sun.  As I walk around flipping switches, I wonder how I could have left all these lights on.  What was I using them for?  How could I read, eat, and work with the power of three triple-A batteries for two days, yet need so much power the rest of the time?  When we lose power here, we lose everything.  The well pumps go, taking our water. The gas heater fails without its electronic brain.  The electric stove is of course worthless, and our phone, a cordless, hangs on the wall nestled in its cradle at its base, ironically flashing the same message over and over "Rechercher La Base, Rechercher La Base". (This is french for "Searching for Base, Searching for Base".  In another futile attempt to learn french we had recently repogrammed the phone to be a language lesson.)

 

The previous afternoon, I shifted my chair closer to the window to gain an extra hour of reading in the late day sun.  I sat outside and played guitar in the quiet evening.  I heated tea and cooked my meals on a camp stove sticking to simple foods that were, by chance or necessity, healthy and filling.  I didn't even use one pint-sized can of gas in two days.  Nothing I ate required refrigeration; I had already thrown out the perishables, which had in fact perished. 

 

Saturday night being new year's eve, I went to several parties in town.  The entire town was completely dark.  People walked in the streets.  It was a clear night and in the darkened sky the stars shone crisply.  The parties were terrific:  Everything was lit by candles and lanterns.  The one concession to electricity was a stereo hooked to a car battery at the first party.  At the next party we played craps by gaslight while eating pizza cooked on a charcoal BBQ and having mixed drinks from a hand-cranked blender. 

 

This morning at 4 a.m. after switching out the lights, I turned off the heat and got back in bed, looking out the skylight.  It would be daylight soon. I'd get up and sit at my computer.  The phone would ring.  Life would return to its normal pace.  But for now I would just lie looking up at the stars and think of a simpler time, a smaller world, and partying by candlelight.

Edited January 4, 2006 by NorthSideSox72

[Iwritecode]

It really depends on your situation. To people who have to live with an oxygen machine, electricity is definitely a necessity.

 

I doubt heat is much of a necessity in California to begin with. If I lost power for 40 hours around new years, I wouldn't need a refriderator. My whole house would be a refridgerator.

 

I'm sure I could figure out how to live without heat, electricity, a phone or running water. But I sure wouldn't want to do it on purpose or on a permenant basis...

Edited January 4, 2006 by Iwritecode

[RockRaines]

This is why I own a generator. I hook up the fridge and the TV.

[southsideirish71]

This is why I own a generator.  I hook up the fridge and the TV.

 

Its one thing to lose some food in a fridge or to go without electricity for a few days missing out on tv or the computer. But its another thing when your sump pump goes all the time year round, and if you lose power for a while your basement will flood. Forget the destruction to property, you have to deal with mold mitigation and other health issues. I lost power over the summer for a few days and had a backup sump pump going. Of course when you lose power, it starts to rain and rain hard. The backup power was out of juice after 12 hours. So I went up and got my generator. Making sure the generator was running so the pump would go, waking up in the middle of the night scared because you hear the silence knowning your sump pump wasnt going, running down to refuel it and start it up. When the lights finally went on I was thrilled.

[RockRaines]

Its one thing to lose some food in a fridge or to go without electricity for a few days missing out on tv or the computer.  But its another thing when your sump pump goes all the time year round, and if you lose power for a while your basement will flood.  Forget the destruction to property, you have to deal with mold mitigation and other health issues.  I lost power over the summer for a few days and had a backup sump pump going.  Of course when you lose power, it starts to rain and rain hard.  The backup power was out of juice after 12 hours.  So I went up and got my generator. Making sure the generator was running so the pump would go, waking up in the middle of the night scared because you hear the silence knowning your sump pump wasnt going, running down to refuel it and start it up.  When the lights finally went on I was thrilled.

We actually had a separate generator for our sump pumps, thats right we had to have 2 for our house because of the flooding. We had the whole basement fill up several times as I was a kid.

[Steff]

We actually had a separate generator for our sump pumps, thats right we had to have 2 for our house because of the flooding.  We had the whole basement fill up several times as I was a kid.

 

 

After hurricane Katrina I told Jim I wanted a whole house generator for my birthday. My greatest fear is the house flooding.

[sox4lifeinPA]

After hurricane Katrina I told Jim I wanted a whole house generator for my birthday. My greatest fear is the house flooding.

 

maybe you should have asked for a boat