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Where were you when the lights went out?
This is a question I’ve been hearing a lot lately. Since the blackout last Thursday, August 15th, affected over 50 million people it seems everyone we meet has his or her own story. Please email me at lulu@fredflare.com and let me know where you were when the lights went out! Remember to send me your mailing address because I have a special prize for the first five responses. Here’s what happened to us at fredflare.com…
Our blackout adventure began at 4:11 in the afternoon, along with everyone else’s in the city. Chris, Keith, Diane and myself were all working at the fred flare warehouse, cleaning up from a busy day. We had had a really long week and were finishing our projects, getting ready to start the weekend. Even though it wasn’t Friday, it certainly felt like it!
Fridays are sometimes hectic at fred flare but we always try and make it fun. We were planning our usual "Fred Flare Fun Food Friday" that we had missed the last few weeks because of our schedules. The "Fun Food Friday" menu is usually pizza, because you can’t have more fun than eating pizza with your friends.
So, while Keith and I were planning the next day’s festivities, Chris was updating the virus protection on our computer system. Just as he hit "apply" the lights went out with a fizzy zap! For a brief second he thought he was responsible for the power outage! I went outside to see if it was just our building and reported back that the entire block was out. We put on the radio and were surprised to learn that it wasn’t just our block but the whole city, and large parts of the Eastern United States and Canada!
After realizing that the lights weren’t coming back anytime soon we did what any normal person would do. We went for cold drinks at our favorite Blu Lounge, because they might not be cold for long. It seemed everybody else had the same idea. Blu was like a giant party that grew and grew as the night went on. We got there pretty early and sat outside with Heather, our favorite bartender and an amazing fashion designer (pictured with me above). We love all of her amazing looks she sports every week!
We sat there chatting and wondering about the people that were stuck on the subway, walking home across the city’s bridges or squeezed in rush hour traffic. We listened to people’s stories about walking from Times Square or the Upper West Side and contemplated all the other scenarios that were so much worse than ours, happily sitting outside with great friends. Sweating, mind you, but still pretty happy.
We also tried to call people that had access to more than an AM radio to could give us the scoop. Our cell phones would work sometimes if we called a place that wasn’t affected by the blackout. We were able to talk to Chris’s mother first, but all she said was, "That’s what you get for living in a crazy town like that!"
We finally got through to our friend Cheri in Chicago. You read about her in It was a Red Hot Summer. Cheri is always very level-headed. She assured us that the blackout wasn’t terrorist-related and gave us some great advice. She said we needed to stick together, go buy some food and water and try to have fun! We immediately headed for the deli.
There were lines outside in the street at every bodega on Bedford Avenue, of which there are many. It was crazy shopping in the dark and buying what was left! We got our supplies – batteries, water and some canned vegetables – and headed back to Blu. Because of the blackout, all food on the menu was half price and it was happy hour until it got dark. So we ordered some snacks. And more drinks.
In a crisis situation a low-tech world takes over. Battery-operated radios are a must and flashlights and batteries are priceless. In our tipsy state we suddenly had a brillant idea: we decided we would sell some of our fred flare kinetic energy flashlights and little lanterns to the patrons of the bar! We’d be rich! We had seen the frenzy at the bodegas and wanted a piece of that action…
So we headed back to the warehouse, got the merch and did some trading with the bodega guys to snag some of the last batteries. We were ready to go! In the end, though, we pretty much just gave them to our favorite peeps at Blu so they could keep the place open. How else were we going to use the bathroom? We also kept a couple of the lanterns for ourselves. Keith and Chris had a long walk home across the Williamsburg Bridge and needed light to guide their way. After we had one final round, we all headed home.
Walking home was quite an experience. The Manhattan skyline was eerily dark and you could see stars in the sky, not a usual occurrence here in NYC. Everyone on my walk home seemed to be having a great time, though! Families sat outside on the sidewalk with what looked to be the contents of their entire apartment. Parents and children relaxed on stoops or ran through fire hydrants to keep cool.
It almost felt like a block party and every bar along the way had joined the fun with makeshift lemonade stands and blackout specials galore! After walking across the Williamsburg bridge, Chris and Keith even stopped and enjoyed hot dogs wrapped in Wonder bread for a dollar from somebody’s impromptu snack shop. They also ate ice cream from a Mr. Softee truck and enjoyed sodas from a drink station at Jerry’s in SoHo where they noticed that the Prada store was still lit up like a dream come true. Then they saw our friends Sweden riding their bicycles and taking pictures. The night was quite a fun adventure for all of us!
Friday morning there was still no power. Newspapers were sold out most places and there was no coffee to be found at all but, oddly, I found people smiling and even chatting as I walked to work. Any kind of crisis brings people together. My entire morning world was moving at a slower pace than usual. People were walking their dogs and having breakfast in the park. Some clearly had been out all night.
Chris and Keith had to walk back across the bridge to work but found some very cold iced coffee along the way for us to enjoy. Since I had been drinking very warm water the cold day-old coffee was so refreshing! We ran fred flare "unplugged" that day and all had projects that didn’t require a computer. We listened to the radio while we worked and rocked out to
Radio Disney.
Since it was "Fun Food Friday" we had to decide what we would be having for lunch. Everyone on Bedford Avenue was eating pizza since those brick ovens didn’t require electricity so there were long lines at both pizza places. We decided we would have ourselves a lil’ cookout!
We have always talked about having a barbeque at the warehouse so Chris pulled out the grill kit that had been collecting dust over the years and we went shopping for an all-veggie bbq of tofu dogs and garden burgers. It was the only thing safe to eat and it worked out great for me since I’ve been a vegetarian since forever. We invited our friend Christine to join in and we all enjoyed a Fun Friday Feast! Diane, who works here at the warehouse with us, is from China and announced that it was her very first American barbeque. Pass the ketchup!
After lunch we all went back to work in the sweatshop (literally) and listened to the radio. We worked on our projects, talked non-stop and had a great afternoon. At 3:43, almost 24 hours after we had been unplugged, we were plugged in again and ready for business! We all jumped up and down and danced around and blasted the air conditioning and cranked the stereo. We love electricity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
08/21/03 |
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