I’m sorry your power is out.
As a kid growing up in Madison, Wisconsin, the thing that my family worried about was ice storms. Snow was just a part of life, no matter how high the drifts got, but when the rain froze on tree limbs and power lines, it was time to hunker down and prepare for power outages.
My parents were on their way home once during an ice storm that had come up suddenly enough to catch them away from the house, and the electricity had been out long enough that linemen were already responding, fixing downed power lines and such. From their car, my folks saw a lineman working, up on a pole in the freezing rain, when the transformer exploded and blew him to the ground, covered in flames and whatever that oil is in transformers.
My father, a doctor, stopped the car, covered the poor sonofab*tch with a blanket and piled snow on him while my mother ran to a nearby house to call for an ambulance. The guy never had a chance. He had third-degree burns over 90% of his body and spent two days in the hospital dying in agony. He left a wife and three children a little pension and a life insurance policy so small that Dad felt compelled to send them some money for his funeral.
If you think this is just an “old man telling stories about the old days,” click this link to read about an injured lineman in Georgia, that says: “The Irwin County coroner said the lineman is alive, but he was taken to the Augusta Burn Unit after being injured while working.” If you have time in between your social media posts, would you mind saying a prayer for that guy and his family? And according to a Georgia Power spokesman, “…the good news, we’re making progress. 830,000 restored in 2 1/2 days since the recovery began early Tuesday AM.”
I’m sorry your power is out. It’s annoying that your neighborhood is “always hit” and “always gets ignored.” Nobody wants their beer to get warm or their food to go bad. Please, keep posting how tough you have it, on Facebook or NextDoor or wherever you feel like venting. I would ask only that you a) maybe consider investing in a generator if it’s that important, and b) include a little appreciation for the men and women risking their lives to get your your lights back on.
Thank you.
/end rant
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Mike Hassinger
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Great article! Apropos for the misery being suffered by so many this week!
So your power is out?
Very well said.
Wait… You grew up in MADISON? Around the same time I was growing up 75 miles away? SMH
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As a side note, The Southeastern Firefighters Burn Foundation is a great charity that takes care of the families of burn victims being treated at the Joseph M. Still Burn Center in Augusta. If you’re feeling a little guilty over your whining, you can do a little monetary penance for your sins with this great Augusta based charity that is championed by fire fighters through out the state.
http://www.burnshurtwehelp.org/
Power linemen are among first responders within the recovery phase.