Nian's Blog

A personal experience I've had with a collapse within the social structure was the Black Out of 2003. I was typing on AOL instant messenger conversating with friends, next to my air conditioner sipping on a cool glass of Nestea. I had no idea what was going on when my AC stopped generating, and my computer screen blanked out. I checked below my desk to make sure I didn't kick my outlet by accident from under the table. I pressed the power button again and again hoping it was just a short circuit. Nothing happened. I tapped the switch for the lights in my room but the room did not light up. I figured there was something wrong with the electricity in building. I figured the electricity would come back shortly, so I didn't really worry. I went into the kitchen to grab another glass of Nestea. After drinking my second glass of Nestea, I noticed that there was nothing to do at home. All the things that I routinely do, I couldn't do no more. All the things that I normally depend on to kill time wasn't accessible anymore. So I did, what most people would've done. I left the house to find things to do. When I left my house, there was shop owners and shoppers outside of their stores scratching their heads. Confused and aware that the electricity had been cut off from their shops. Before I only thought the electricity problem was only coming from my building, but it was the whole entire area. I started to get worried, but yet at the same time excited. I was worried because it was summer time, and without electricity meant that I had to sleep in the heat, without the Internet, and without cold Ice tea. At the same time I wanted to feel how hot summer really was, and experience life without confining myself at home all the time, and it was also a chance for me to also see the city lights swallowed in shadows. As I walked down Mulberry street, all stores were closed and murky inside, I saw residents stretch their heads out their windows, signs of sweat from shoppers in clothing stores started showing. The air conditioners were officially out, and the reality of summer was showing its true temperature. As a sweat started soaking the pores on my face, my heart was at not eased. Everything seemed to have stopped, society itself had stopped functioning. The only ounce of hope that ensured not all had stopped moving was our cars. They were still moving but the traffic lights had given up its duty on the streets. It was chaotic, seeing the power system that drivers relied on disappear. All the drivers seemed clueless on whether if they should stop or go. Sidewalk lights have stopped functioning also, mothers with babies in carriages were afraid to cross the street afraid of the broken traffic lights. I've never really noticed how much we depended on electricity to run our daily lives, until the Black out actually happened. On that day of the black out, everyone was lost. Everybody has been stripped of their ability to do things they do everyday. Before the blackout, everyone had something to do, they were always busy with their lives, separating themselves from others because they hold a larger amount of materialistic things tan others. But now, the rich, the average, and the poor all had no electricity. We are finally at the same level, we were all living under a roof with no lights, there is nobody better than anyone else in the community. What got me thinking this way, was when I saw white residents from the condos next to my house step out sweating and complaining because their AC's weren't working. A few blocks away from the condos was homes for the lower income Spanish residents. And they seem to be perfectly fine, sitting on the steps of their buildings with fans bottles of water. I felt as if the rich people living in the condos next to my home, had harder difficulty coping with the heat, than the poor, because the rich had their AC's turned on all the time. Ignoring the heat, their bodies were comfortable in their original room temperatures, and since electricity has been cut off, their bodies cannot cope with the extreme change in temperature. After walking down Mulberry, I made a left towards Grand Street. I have stepped foot in Chinatown. As usual, Chinese people looked calm, but whispers leaked from one to another. With gossips of terrorists planning to strike because of the black out, and suggestions of buying water and candles for preparation. While the white residents next to my house were complaining about the heat, the people in Chinatown pushed each other on lines to buy water and food. Maybe I was wrong, maybe everybody was thinking the same. But the atmosphere around my neighborhood and the atmosphere in Chinatown was totally different. When I say atmosphere I meant, the way people handle things when situations are introduced to them. The people living next to my house were calling on their cellphones asking for information on what's happening, while the residents a few blocks away, were totally relaxed sipping on their Poland springs and fanning themselves while they watching their children ride on their scooters down the block. As for residents in Chinatown, the first thing they did was talk with each other, create some sort of gossip about danger, and they immediately started to shop for food and water. When word got around, store owners, and Chinese car service vans heightened their prices. Dumplings went from $1 for 5, to $3 for 5. Chinese Vans to Brooklyn and queens went from $2 a ride, to $10 a ride. Everyone was like vultures. They all took an advantage over the situation, and looked to make profit from doing business with people. If the black out lasted a week instead of a day, and Chinatown would've beasted on the prices like that still, the whole community would collapse. First, the consumers would run out of money because they weren't working, second the stop keeper's food would spoil, and everyone would eventually have nothing to eat.Analysis: My views on this situation, is a more of a wake up call for me and probably others as well. We are so reliant on electronics and systems that function on electricity. For instance, the residents complaining about their AC's, and the traffic lights that made drivers aggressive. And also myself, for actually coming outside on a hot summer day because there was "nothing for me to do at home". Because of the blackout I woke up from my daily routine of chatting on the Internet, and watching T.V. But since the systems of power that confines me at home has been suddenly shut off, I find myself roaming the around. I've never noticed why I always stay at home, or engage myself on virtual conversations when I can have a better experience talking to people in person. Because of the black out I learned that the reason why the everything keeps moving, and everybody has something to do because there's always a power system that keeps everything going. When you remove this power system, everybody will stop in their tracks, and wake up. When we wake up, our purpose in life will feel as if it had no meaning. I am not sure if I'm explaining myself clearly, but I just feel that once the electricity had cut off, it just seemed to me that everyone didn't really know what to do except try to stock up on resources. Like the residents in Chinatown. The first thing they did was to gather enough resources that would provide enough lighting and food for the night. What I found interesting was the way everyone acted when a situation like the black out occurred. The definition for their actions represented survival, and everyone saw this opportunity as a chance to take an advantage. I can explain this a little more clearer and further but I have to submit this by 12 o clock.