George Burns.
After being a part of history for the third time in my life, I must admit that I have not seen it all. In fact, I haven't come remotely close to seeing it all.
I remember 1993, when they tried to take down the World Trade. I remember 9/11, when Al-Quieda was successful. The images of those planes crashing in the towers remain etched in my mind. But nothing will compare to what is now heralded as the '03 blackout; for it accomplished three main things for me: it reinstated my faith in my city, it made me reassess the things I concern over, and it gave me a much needed shock-to-the-system.
So where was I when it happened, you ask?!? I was just about to begin my second 30 minute break at work. After drinking some soda, I sat down in the breakroom preparing my iPod to play the Double-Jeopardy Riddim. Around 4:26PM, as I was fully situated in the surroundings, the room goes pitch black. Very loud sirens sounded, and I began to panic. "Did I hit something by accident?", I thought. But then again, I was still relatively new at work, so this might have been a nice 'welcoming surprise' of sorts. Two minutes later, I realized that this couldn't be a surprise, grabbed my stuff, activated the backlit-screen on the iPod, and proceeded to find my way upstairs. As I found the staircase, security was heading downstairs to turn off the sirens. They tried everything they could, but to no avail. Meanwhile, the other associates escorted customers outside. We closed and locked up shop, and attempted to phone out. Signals were weak, and phone calls weren't getting through. My one-part music player/one-part flashlight helped find a radio, in which we found out that there was a citywide blackout. This would explain why I couldn't phone home; because by the time my parental-carbon-based-units realized they were reliving 1977, I'd be on my way home, in which by the time I got there, the electrical phone would've been replaced with the ringer.
The other associates and I were eventually sent home, and after gazing at non-functioning light-signals, I began realizing the scope of the situation. No electricity meant street chaos, and most importantly, no trains. In my $89 Kenneth Coles, I braced myself for the long 9 mile walk back home, nearing myself with cars with radios telling of the situation at hand. The problem has escalated to the entire northeastern region of the US, including southeast Canada. "Wow, this must be a crisis," the driver and I agreed. Behind us, some of my older associates from work debated whether Hussein or bin Laden was behind the blackout; insisting this could be a part of something big. Then I noticed this woman, who also works where I am, who I've known since high school. We were a grade apart I believe, and several years after graduation, we met again at a Modell's in Brooklyn where she worked, during the time I was working at the Chambers Street store. And here it was, we met again; but before a word could be said, she was speedwalking home, and I was heading in the opposite direction. Oh well, you win some, you lose some.
The Parkway-bound B17 was slow on arrival, so my 9 mile walk was shortened down to 2 miles. And if you thought the fellow passengers on the bus were quiet about situation, well, so did I. But everyone was talking, and the moment I was just about to situate myself with my music, they brought me in their conversation! The passenger next to me, realizing I had my Sony DJ headphones (I know, an odd choice in 90 degree weather), asked if he could connect them to his walkman. Next thing we all knew, we had a portable radio, tuning the bus into a City Hall interview with Mayor Bloomberg bringing us up to date with the facts. The bottom line: the blackout is the result of a mere mishap in Canada (always something with Canada, eh?), and this might last until the end of the day. Ideas were brought up as to what to stock up on just in case this is not an all-nighter: batteries, candles, ice, water, bread, things that nature. Finally, I arrived home, with my mother coming in 15 minutes later. Between my iPod, my Panasonic walkman, and my Sony DJ headphones, I was well-informed and well-entertained for the night. As for the necessities, it turns out everything was cool in da crib. With the remaining battery life in my cell phone, I started dialing out family and friends, with half and half responses (half responding, half not responding). I left some voicemails, and received some assurances that my peeps were cool as well. A dinner, some more hours of music later, at around 11PM, the earliest I've ever went to sleep during the summer, my eyes were shut closed, and fast asleep.
At 9:46 the next morning, I realized the situation didn't change, and the ice supply was running low. My brother and I left da crib thinking we were about to enter hostile territory; but to our utter astonishment, everyone was still civilized! We went to our local East Indian bodega, which was just about to open up, and was able to leave with three bags of ice! They were overpriced of course, but as I passed the ice around to all the people waiting, we didn't care. We were all going to pay the price together. My barber was heading up the road to find some meat to cook for a barbecue, inviting my brother and I to join him. After declining, we went back home, and I tried to call back the peeps I couldn't reach the previous day. I was successful on some accounts; but for the most part, my attempting to reach them seemed to be much more like an annoyance to them than a friendly responsive-check. It's a funny thing when I think about it; within those 24 hours, I have seen more concern from neighbors and total strangers than from some of my friends. 'Twas like I just found out who my real friends were, and who all the pretenders were. So, to dismiss that aspect of the crisis, I turned back to my iPod and 1010 WINS, which was going strong. Then at 2:16PM, the alarm clock came back on telling the correct time (thank God for 9-volts), as well as the lights inside the apartment building. Even the elevator was back in order! And after that, all I can hear are the screams and cries for joy from outside, as the stoplights functioned again. I went back outside, and it resembled a Broadway musical almost, with some people dancing in the streets. I guess they didn't want to back inside yet, because of all the warnings not to turn on the air conditioners. All in all, this 22-hour call to da basics has been one helluva experience from start to finish.
First, I want to big up the folks at Apple for creating the world's most excellent MP3 player, with real 10 hour battery life, and a backlight that can light anyone's way. Second, Sony's MDR-V700DJ headphones produced sound loud enough to fill a bus, or a bedroom; which came in handy since there were no speakers to spread the news. So major big-ups to Sony for that one. 1010 WINS and CD 101.9 also get shoutouts, for mixing music and news without drowning my family out. Oh yeah, 103.1FM Bashment Radio was a big help as well; their Thursday Old School session took me back to the good 'ole days...
Also, thank God no one was seriously hurt! That must either be a miracle or a coincidence! And most important, big-ups to all family and friends who responded and who made sure that I was responding. And to New York in general, for showing the world what true class is all about.
One last memoir of the experience. From the New York Times:
