Power Outages Are What You Make Of Them

You are having a cozy Friday night in watching Netflix in your room while your Mom is catching up on the news, and your Dad is catching up on his favorite television shows from the week. The rain is pouring hard outside, and the sound of music blasting in your little sister's room next door is the only thing distracting you from watching seven episodes of The Office in a row. You walk outside to ask her to turn the music down; when it suddenly stops by itself. The problem is though, the lights went off as well. Immediately you think, "oh great, a power outage."

Your parents walk in your room with flashlights and candles, and all you can think of is how awful it is that you can no longer watch your show, and instead you must converse with your family for entertainment. With no power, it can feel like you are living in 1852, and it can make you wonder how people ever lived without electronics. Without your computer to keep you company, you delve into the depths of your closet and break out the board games. You sit with your family in a dark room and embrace the awkwardness of forced family fun time. You begin to read the directions from Monopoly, and set up the game. Each person takes a turn, and then something amazing happens. You all begin to converse.

The simple "how was your day today" leads to jokes, reminiscing about past family memories, and stories you could listen to for hours. Catching up on each other's lives begins to feel more exciting than finding out if Jim and Pam finally get together. Remembering life before you worried about what every celebrity was posting on twitter and what your crush Snapchatted you begins to feel blissful rather than horrific. Deep within the suspense of the Monopoly game, the lights flash on again. What you thought would be a sprint back to your room actually turns into a feeling of disappointment. Your family exchanges a few glances before realizing that there is a quick solution. You all stand up, turn off all the lights once again and resume the exciting game.

You think to yourself, maybe they aren't so bad after all.