Strangers in the night
2003 08 16
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There was the Big Dipper, and there a shooting star, and there are the people walking the streets holding candles. The darkness makes friends of us all, and reminds us just how much we need each other, and just how much our various technologies isolate us from one another.
I've never seen the stars in this city before, nor had anyone else at the impromptu blackout party at the bar next to where I live. Since business was impossible, they closed the place down to all but staff and one or two locals. We sat on the patio with candles on all the tables, someone played CDs from their car stereo. Fortunately the J-Lo advocate was not given heed, and we continued with our diet of beer, beer, Led Zeppelin, Peter Gabriel, more beer, and some Sambuca.
I have neighbours, I discovered, friendly people with their requisite share of quirks. It's hard, sometimes, to judge people during disasters and their ilk, because times of stress do one of two things; bring out the worst, or bring out the best. Out of need we must make the best, and our little group made the best we could out of an evening when most of us would have probably stayed at home navel-gazing or staring at the television.
With minimal fuss, and more enjoyment than I expected, I survived the blackout of 2003.