Not in the mood for substantial entertainment, I was
wasting time as the power went out. I opened the window to get some more light, then went outside to see if it was just us.
It wasn't; everyone else was already outside.
I don't think I've ever talked about the people who live here, since I rarely deign to see them. I don't deserve this community. Everyone is friendly with everyone else, and they're all good people. It's the sort of community that the word "community" was invented for.
And yet we all spend our days in the house, doing stuff in isolation. Even my mother, who will volunteer for anything community-related, who invites to Shabbat lunch every person who sets foot in the neighborhood, and who chats with anyone who wants to chat, spends a lot of time working by herself on her computer.
But the computers were off. The TVs were off. The digital phones were off. And suddenly everyone on the street thought collectively: "
Hey, human interaction! There's an idea."
Then power came back on partially. Just enough to light up the house dimly, not enough to run a computer. I went to the piano to start playing, though I didn't have much inspiration. I played, and Eli walked in and sat on our couch for a minute. And the people outside could hear me too, obviously. Then I stopped, and took my Bone comics over to Avri. (I kept meaning to give him those, but never got around to it what with all the time-wasting.)
Avri said the scene reminded of the scene in The Simpsons where a TV show is canceled, and all the kids go out to play in parks. (I'd link to a YouTube clip, but I can't find one.)
We talked about old-fashioned games, in the dark. And I didn't want the lights to come back on, because then I'd have no excuse to not be inside on my own.
The lights came back on. I went back in, and got back to doing what I do.
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