dependant much???

I work for Xcel Energy - which covers 11 states worth of electricity. so if you have an outage... i'm bound to find out about it. Well, two weeks ago, Minnesota had 200,000 customers w/o power! All restored now but it took us about a week! So people get really upset when they have no electricity.

Got yelled at because a lady's kids couldn't watch Blues Clues. if i could reach through the phone and slap her for raising a child that's dependent on television for entertainment, i would've!

But sunday afternoon - Colorado starts getting snow. They get a foot and a half! And the Denver Metro region had about 65,000 customers w/o power. and i spoke to half of them too! they were all upset. it's freezing. my food is going to spoil. my phones don't work cause they're cordless. i can't open the garage because there's no power. can't even use my can opener because it's electric!!!

and i've been saddened with the dependency on electricity. yes, we need it but have we become THAT lazy that we don't even want to crank a can opener? don't want to play with our kids? go ape-shit because he's about to throw a fit if the tv doesn't come on???

i'm sad. sad that we don't read anymore. don't play games. that Playstations and computers have replaced bicycles and park slides.

sad that if the microwave goes out - we ain't eating dinner! sad that we don't know how to manually open a garage door. sad that we are so addicted to this drug that is electricity that we've allowed it to take over EVERY facet of our lives.

and i'm guilty too. don't know how i'd do my hair if i wasn't able to use my flat iron. would totally blow a gasket because i can't be on the computer. Would freak out if the battery on my iPod died and i wasn't able to recharge it.

but one thing's for sure. laken wouldn't be bored. we wouldn't starve. we wouldn't lose our minds because power is out for two hours. thinking back on my childhood and even young adulthood, those were the fun times. when we could escape it all and just BE with someone. just sit there and rely upon no outside forces for entertainment or to connect us to that person or the rest of the world. and we'd sit there and laugh. and figure it out.

and i want to return to that. so one day a month i'm going to totally minimize things and go back to being Basic. basic life. enjoy the things in life that are far more incredible than technology. like the fresh air. the color of leaves falling to the ground. just me. just laken. just my camera. and nothing else. no tv. no phones. no movies. no fully-cooked-just-microwave meals. just. just. just.

now, lemme get out my PalmPilot and schedule this day....