LCEA ALUMNI - Lights Off San Fran

Lights Off San Fran

Written by Edina Nasseri

Saturday, 20 October 2007

I went to bed last night after everyone else did. It was strangely quiet and still. Earlier that day, the boiler had broken down and the cold coupled with everything else created a strange and eerie atmosphere. I had to sleep with my thick wool sweater on but stopped at wearing my beanie to bed. After all, the fashion police would be mortified if they were to ever see me like that. Stuffed to the brim with layer upon layer! I would have been more freaked out if I saw people peering at me (and grading me for my sleep clothes) while I slept…but that’s a separate issue.

Anyway, I lay my head down to sleep but sleep was far away. I was being kept on the edge of consciousness by this soft humming. I kept telling myself that the buzzing would mysteriously disappear but it OBVIOUSLY never did. After tossing and turning…debating with my self whether or not I should get up and investigate the origin of this buzz…I discovered that it was being emitted from my twin sisters DAB radio. I almost cried from the exhaustion and the ridiculousness of it all. I tried to unplug the cable from the power point but instead discovered that my darling twin had created a sorta mess of tangled wires and cables. Really, I was not getting into that right then and there! I think I must have fallen asleep through the buzz of noise anyway.

It was strange to then learn that San Francisco turned off their lights for an hour today. Perhaps they had a mechanical error with their breaker box but were too embarrassed to admit it. Covering up the blunder with an environmentally friendly tactic seemed the best way to save face! But giving them the benefit of the doubt, the main idea was to try and save 15% of the energy that would normally be used on an average Saturday night. San Francisco has also pledged to switch off non-essential lighting for an hour on The Golden Gate Bridge, The Bay Bridge, City Hall, Alcatraz and other parts of the city. Several restaurants will also host candlelight dinners that night. [I remember watching a film where a wife had prepared a candlelit dinner for her husband. When he returned from work and saw the table set and candles lit, he said, “…what’s all this?” The wife replied, “…I thought it would be romantic…” The husband said, “…Oh I thought you were trying to save electricity…”]

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Comments (1)

1. 23-10-2007 13:24

It's sad when the best that people can do is turn lights off for an hour or give up the car for a day, just to make out that they acknowledge there is a problem but no one is willing to make the effort to make a real change.

Why on earth does Alcatraz need to be lit up?
It's no longer a jail. Let nature take it back.

Written by Paul D (Registered)

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