BLACK OUT

As I told you all last week, there was a debilitating tornado that came through Albany, Georgia. I say debilitating with extreme seriousness, because there are some people who STILL do not have power. 

And as I also said, my folks themselves were without power for six long days, and even though power has been restored, they still do not have cable or internet accessibility.  They were told by Media Com that it could be two weeks or two months before it was restored.

So, for the last week, every time that I call to check on my parents, my calls are made with the full realization that although they do have warmth, light, and the ability to now cook – they are also very cut-off from the world. They are retired now, have been for quite some time, and when you’re retired you watch a LOT of television and do a lot of internet surfing. Since their retirement, they have practically become medical doctors and professional on-line shoppers; Google is King.

Of course, they do a lot of other things: they clean-up what little mess two grown people could possibly create, do their own yard-work, cook meals, and they check the mail every day at 5pm when they hear the thud on their foyer floor, as the mailman shoves it through the front door slot. 

Some weeks they have doctor appointments that fill some of the daily time slots, and a grocery store visit or two, and on the first Monday of every month, my folks travel to Columbus, Georgia where my mother meets some of her high school classmates and they all have a birthday’s-of-the-month lunch and gab about what’s going on in their lives.

But back to my original point, after all their daily activities are done each day, they are still without television or the internet, therefore they have no other punctuation in their lives; nothing else to tell them what time it is.  You know, like it’s 6:30 pm, so it’s time for the national news. Or it’s 3pm and The Ellen Show is on. They are literally walking around with clocks and calendars in their hands so that they can keep up with the rest of the world.

Which brings me to my real point: for the last two weeks, the internet service at my place of employment has either been down, or spotty at best, as well as our phone system as it’s connected to all of that. I CANNOT stress enough how the internet/my phone effects EVERYTHING I DO.

So, while intelligently, my mind knows that there are much worse things happening in Albany, Georgia; i.e.; people still have full size trees in their homes, and many are still without power - it’s been difficult not to feel sorry for my parents and myself, accompanied by some whining. I have been ready to pull my hair out of my head most days, as it pounds with frustration, and they, I am sure, are feeling a huge void like no other. We are addicted captives to technology – is there a pill for that?