When the Lights Go Out

By Graham "GSM" Matthews

When the lights went out at the end of last Sunday's WWE Hell in a Cell pay-per-view (intentionally, of course, as it signaled the return of Bray Wyatt), it was probably the most perfectly fitting conclusion to that week. Only mere days earlier were we without power here on my college campus. It was the result of a brutal storm we got on Wednesday night that I assumed wouldn't do much damage if any at all. I mean, we've experienced far worse in the last year that I've been here, including a snow storm that nearly prevented me from doing me from doing my radio show that night (the snow must go on...)! Thus, it came as a bit of a surprise when on Wednesday night, the whole campus lost power.

Two emotions came over me at that moment. At first, it was excitement. How often was it that you were going to experience something like this? Sure, the power goes out all the time when you're home and with the flip of a switch it's back on, but this was different. An entire campus was without power. Your dorm, the hallways, everything was pitch black. You couldn't see a single thing, and while that could be a terrifying thought for some, it was exciting for me. I was also worried I'd miss that night's episode of TNA Impact Wrestling, but I figured that if the power didn't go back on by the time the show aired in an hour, I would just watch it the next day. No big deal.

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Moments after the power went out, my roommate and I opted to explore the campus. Was it unsafe for us to do that? Probably, but again, how often was this thing going to happen? It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I wasn't about to pass that up. As we roamed through the powerless campus, "Lights Go Out" by Fozzy played in my head over and over. I mean, why wouldn't it? It was a thrilling (and chilling) experience. We headed back to our dorm shortly afterwards while we waited for the power to come back. We got power back about a half hour later, but the Internet and cable was still out (no TNA for me!). I'd later find out that it was only my dorm that got power back; other dorms were still without it.

It was one of those things that it was fun the first time, but every subsequent time the power went out over the next 24 hours, it grew more and more frustrating. I wasn't angry, though. There's a difference. Sure, it was frustrating to not know when the power was going to stay on for good, but there was no reason to be angry because there wasn't anything I could do to get the lights back on. It was all about the waiting game. This was in addition to the fact that I knew the lights would come back on eventually, so there was no point in wasting my energy in complaining. Instead, I put that energy into doing something productive.

The obvious question begs to be asked: "What can you do that's productive in the dark?" Honestly, not much. I still had my laptop and phone, and I thankfully had them both fully charged before we lost power, but I didn't want to waste the battery on either of them unless it was important, so I chose to not use them at all. I was able to do something that I hadn't been able to do in a while: read a book. Being as busy as I am during the week, it's hard to find time for things I want to such as reading, but this blackout provided me with the perfect opportunity to get going on the Hulk Hogan autobiography I purchased for a whopping five bucks at an independent wrestling event I recently attended. However, the only reason I was able to read a few chapters was because I just so happened to have a book light with me, so make sure you come prepared for a blackout in case one occurs in your area. This goes for the ever important flashlights as well.

We went to bed without power that night, but we woke up to it (in addition to a notification that all classes were cancelled for Thursday, so that was a plus). The Internet came back on later that afternoon only for the power to go out again in the evening. Luckily for me and my roommate, we were at dinner at that point and were able to get any food that was left (sorry kids who came late). The power went on and off a few more times before the end of the night. It was an interesting experience to say the least, and I didn't have much to do in terms of work for classes anyway so the timing wasn't terrible.

This wasn't the first time something like this has happened and it certainly won't be the last. I experienced something similar two years ago during the devastating Hurricane Sandy. I live in Connecticut, so the destruction wasn't as bad around my neck my woods as it was in places such as New York and New Jersey, but we still lost power because of the strong wind. That was easily the worst experiences I ever endured. I just felt like I was going crazy without any power. At that time, I couldn't read or do anything. I went to bed around 8:30 that night because of it! I couldn't even fall asleep because of our next door neighbor's generator. It was horrible.

From that experience, though (and I've talked about this in a past post in this blog before), I learned to appreciate the little things. How often do you wake up and think to yourself, "Wow, I'm really appreciative the lights are on"? Probably never. After going through something that like, you'll start to think about that kind of stuff. You never know how good you have it until something bad like that happens. So, if it ever occurs again (like it did to me just last week), you'll know what to expect and encourage others to have the same mindset as you!