The Blackout

 In August, Lori and I went to New York once again. This time she really wanted to meet Jen, “my first true love,” as she put it. She really thought that Jen was one of the reasons things didn’t work out between her and I. Unfortunately, plans with Jen fell through and she couldn’t meet up.

  The trip was generally uneventful until one afternoon just before sundown, Lori and I went to a mall to see if an old friend still worked there. While we were walking the length of the mall, the power went out. Via a generator, an announcement was quick to notify us that it was not a terrorist attack. Granted, that did not occur to me as I’ve been through many blackouts, but I was not attuned the heightened sensitivity of New Yorkers to such an event, nor were we aware of the extent of this power failure.

  This was in fact the famous “East Coast Blackout.” It took quite a while to get from the part of Long Island we were at to get back to the part of Long Island where my parents lived. It was rush hour and without stop lights, no one would yield to traffic making turns on major roads. Unaware of how extensive the power outage was, it was quite shocking to drive miles and miles and still see no power.

  We were supposed to meet a large group of my friends at a bar for Karaoke that night and if the power didn’t come back on, those plans would be in jeopardy. As it ended up being, those plans were out. So was the entire North-East. We spent the evening in the back yard drinking beers with my parents in their beautiful back yard with their solar powered yard lights and candles for light. It was relaxing and enjoyable, but I would miss out on seeing many of my friends I had hoped to see while I was in town.