Sitting in the dark

The electricity went out last night on my side of the street, not the whole street, just our side of the street. (How come that always happens when the temprerature is -18 degrees celsius (0 degrees F) with a wind chill of -25 degrees(-13 degrees F)) We could look out of our cold dark house and see the lights in the houses across the street. Even the street lights were on.... but not on our side of the street.
We always take our modern convenience for granted until it stops working. Sitting there shivering in the dark reading by the flickering light of a candle, oh all right to the light of a propane camping lantern, made me think about how much we depend on our fragile technology. Makes me think of a quote from Carl Sagan, "Our society is exquisitly dependant on science and technology, yet very few of its members know anything about science and technology." How true it is. I know people who don't know how to connect their VCR to their TV. Look at how many people use a computer without having any idea of what is going on. Yet we all depend upon it for our very survival. How many of us could suvive without the technology?
A couple of years ago, we had an ice storm that shut down the electrical grid, in many places, for over a month in the dead of winter. People had to abandon their homes and go live in shelters. New Orlean's infra-structure is no more and the city has almost ceased to exist. Yet we still take it all for granted. Push a button, instant heat, light, and entertainment.
Makes you think when you're sitting there shivering in the dark. ;o)