Humility Has a Way of Imposing Itself in Our Lives

As I look back over the past few posts, I see I declared I was not going to be a part of the "recession." Sounds good...sounds arrogant...sounds, well, kind of stupid to me today.

Last night I returned to my home and was fighting with the garage door opener that was, apparently, malfunctioning. I pushed every button I could find. When that didn't work, I did what any rational being would do, I pushed the buttons harder! Ultimately, I got out of the car and walked toward the door just in case the battery was weak and I needed to be closer. My neighbor was in his front yard doing something (he's always doing something) and he had a big smile on his face.

"It won't work!" he said very self-assured. I asked how he knew my garage door was not going to work, and he told me, "The electricity went out more than an hour ago, a transformer blew at the main station. Gonna be dark for a while."

He was right. We had no power through the rest of the evening. When Lucia came home we decided to go out for dinner (couldn't cook). So we went to a favorite spot, had some wine, and ate as slowly as we could. Not slowly enough.

Still without power when we returned, we found flashlights, got ready for bed (brushing one's teeth in the dark is interesting...not difficult, just interesting), and turned in for the night.

The electric company succeeded in doing what the recession couldn't, I could not work. I couldn't even make phone calls as our telephone is supplied by the cable company...no cable, no phone. The perfect storm...even my cell phone was depleted. The very strength of working for oneself grinds to a halt if you don't have access to one's tools; and all my tools need electricity.

Today the power is once again surging through the lines, but I'm a bit less cavalier about my situation versus others struggling in today's economy. All it takes is one little element to misfire, and we're all in the same boat. My suffering was short, this time. My humility has grown.