Modern Life

As we lived through our ice storm these last couple of days, it's been
interesting to note the reaction of people deprived of amenities that
didn't even exist when I was a boy.

- Guests at the hotel, deprived of cable TV, have been grudgingly
understanding -- but only because we offer DVD movies, free for the
borrowing. Without that, we'd be facing demands of refunds, I'm
certain.

- My kids, deprived of both internet and TV (danged cable modem), were
befuddled, and took refuge in reading and DVDs (once the power came
back on)...

- I found myself frustrated, knowing full-well that my 60 to 70 emails
per day were still coming in, even though I was unable to clear them
from home. (Luckily, our DSL lines at the hotel never faltered...)
And, of course, I couldn't get my daily dose of rec.aviation.

As we sat in the dark, by the light of dynamo-crank-LED lights
(something else that was science-fiction when I was a kid), I tried to
explain to my kids that this was life as my grandparents knew it
growing up -- EVERY DAY. No electricity, no phones, no TV, no radio.
This was NORMAL.

What's really amazing is how unprepared people are for these kinds of
disruptions. Mary and I have all sorts of survival and camping gear,
a good supply of drinking water and food, and enough fire wood to heat
the house for several days. Both of our primary vehicles are 4-wheel
drive, and kept in good working order.

In short, we're ready for the crap that Mother Nature throws at us
here in the Midwest.

We saw people driving sports cars into the hotel parking lots, wearing
SHORTS and sweatshirts. They had no winter gear, no warm clothing,
and were absolutely astounded to hear that Interstate 80 was closed.
They were abadoning their homes, because the power was out, and
heading to any available hotel room.

These people would literally DIE if their cars broke down, or at the
very least would have to be rescued by the State Patrol. What the
hell are they *thinking*? The Governor declares a state of
emergency, and these folks are out driving in shorts and a
sweatshirt?

And it's not just dumb people, not to that extreme. What our kids
regard as "basic living" -- computers, cell phones, internet, instant
messaging, FaceBook, XM satellite radio, Nexrad radar, 500-channels of
crap on TV -- only existed in Isaac Asimov novels when I was growing
up. To watch as they come face-to-face with the reality of life
*without* these creature comforts -- even for just a couple of days --
was enlightening, and more than a little scary.

Sure, my kids go camping, and we "rough it" for a week or so each year
-- but their daily societal expectations are so high, and the distance
those expectations fall when the power grid fails is so great -- that
I really wonder what we're doing to our kids.

This is a generation that has never seen hardship, never seen high
unemployment, never seen high interest rates, never seen wide-spread
poverty, never (despite Iraq) seen war. And their electronic
"information age" creature comforts are so entirely energy dependent,
and so ingrained in their lifestyle, that they are rendered helpless
when the power fails. Between "global warming" and soaring energy
prices, can this type of lifestyle be long sustained?

Worse, my kids have grown accustomed to being whisked across the
country in an airplane, at a moment's notice, and simply *expect*
everything to work, every day, dammit. Mary and I are trying to
instill a self-sufficient work ethic in them that will allow them to
survive in "the real world" -- but their "real world" has changed so
much in the last 20 years that it would not even be recognizable to my
grand-parents, dead only since the 1970s...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"