No Power

I met a guy today that had no power in his house. Not because of the wind, but because he couldn't afford it. He told me that he had it turned off about 9 months ago. He was a real estate agent and had basically lost his job as the market in Detroit melted down.

Now I've heard of many people losing their house. Actually it's quite common here these days and usually part of that equation is having the power shut off as well. But, until today, I had not met anyone who was staying in their house and had no power. It's really kind of interesting because modern society considers electricity and gas necessities of life. And for the most part they are. This guy told me he was using candles, lanterns, and heating his house with wood in the fireplace. I'm not sure how the plumbing isn't freezing, but it appears to be working for him so far. The house was like a 2000 sqft trilevel so I'm sure he was not able to heat the whole thing with the fireplace.

I think the thing that struck me the most about him, is the fact that it didn't seem to bother him too bad. I mean I'm sure he would probably rather have the power on, but he was semi happy. It's not like he was blaming anyone or anything. He wasn't angry. He wasn't bitter. He just didn't have power. He said that 4 years ago he was making six figures a year and now, he had nothing coming in. His paradigm had shifted and he shifted with it. I don't know how many people would take this guy's approach to life, but I'm afraid we might have the opportunity to find out very shortly. This very well could be a sign of things to come. Or maybe not.