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Argentina and Uruguay Without Electricity: How Would You Live in the Dark?
It’s not something most of us ever consider
Most of us have experienced the odd power-cut. We usually see it through the lens of novelty and excitement.
‘Ooo, time to get the candles out!’
Our phones still work, thanks to 4G and the fact power cuts are always extremely localised. It’s not half a city, it’s half a neighbourhood. So we can still message our friends down the road with thrilled messages like, ‘we’ve had a power cut! Is yours still on?’
We go to put the kettle on and laugh as we remember that it won’t work. Someone finds a torch in the back of a drawer but our phones have torches anyway. We bring out the fancy scented candles we’ve been bought for Christmas over the years. They make the house smell like a candle shop, too many cloying flavours at once.
The power is back on within fifteen minutes. Someone is sent to reset the oven’s clock, indignantly flashing 12:00. Things turn on that we hadn’t realised were even on before.
We look out the window and see the streetlights are back. The excitement is over although tomorrow we’ll eagerly ask our colleagues if they too had a power cut.
