One of Many

After the storm, many people were left without electricity and internet. On Long Island, approximately 300,000 people had no lights and another 52,000 had no cable, if they had lights. My boss lost her electricity and her internet. She has a generator so the internet would have worked if it was up. She called and asked me to call PSEG to tell them that she needed electricity because she has an elderly mother. She wanted a call back. She wanted me to do the same with the cable company. She needed internet to work. As she was telling me this, the silent bubble in my head was thinking. First of all, everyone needs electricity. There are tens of reasons why each person feels that they need it more. One has small babies. One needs a sleep apnea machine. One needs an oxygen machine. One has a heart condition. And so on and so on. Now, since the virus, many people work from home. They all need the internet. Who needs it more, the PSEG people work from home and so do the cable company people. I told her I would call. I knew the answer would be, "We are working on it". I dialed the phone, put it on speaker, and went about my workday. At 2pm, when it was time to leave, I hung up the phone. I had still been on hold. Later that day when she texted to ask what the companies said, I replied, "They are working on it".