Hartley Neita, ContributorLast Saturday afternoon, I was relaxing at home watching a television programme when there was a tremendous blast. It sounded as if what is popularly called a lightning bolt had hit something in the neighbourhood. The television screen went blank as a clap of thunder rocked my home.
At the time there was a slight drizzle. I looked outside and saw that the sky was black with a thick cloud spreading from east to west and north to south. It was too dark to read, so I switched on a transistor radio, searched for the music I like, relaxed and closed my eyes. I fell asleep.
Two hours later I woke. The television screen was still blank. A table lamp beside my chair which I had switched on earlier was still off. I went through my house unplugging my computer, television set, refrigerator and other electrical equipment.
I then called the emergency number of the Jamaica Public Service Company. To my surprise, after the initial recording giving instructions unlike previous experiences a lady answered. I described the problem. She asked me where I lived. I told her. Without hesitation, she was able to tell me that a repair unit was in my area and she was sure the problem would be rectified "as soon as possible".
Shortly after dark, I became concerned. I telephoned a friend who lived on a nearby road. She told me she had lost electricity earlier in the afternoon but that a van from the electric company had been working on a transformer nearby and she now had current once more. She was watching the news. She did not invite me to join her!
necessary action
I called JPS. The same lady answered. I repeated my problem. She told me that the workmen had discovered it was necessary to replace the transformer which served my road and a nearby community and that the necessary action was being taken.
I had purchased meat and milk and cheese the day before. My week-day helper had also mixed and stored lemonade and my other favourite fruit juices in my refrigerator. I became worried so I placed what could probably be spoilt in a deep-freeze. I went to bed and fell asleep in due course.
Over the years, electric power at my home has been interrupted from time to time. There were the post-hurricane periods, but at those times I was prepared for the loss of electricity. And like everyone, I waited. There were also times when as during the 1970s and in recent months electric power has been suspended without warning. Fortunately, these latter interruptions have not been for long.
This last occasion, however, made me realise how dependent I have become on technology. As a young child, my village did not have electricity. Home work at nights was done with the light of a "Home Sweet Home" kerosene lamp. My father and mother sat with one, reading and talking together quietly. Sometimes she sewed on buttons to the shirts of my brother and I. On Friday nights, an aunt who lived with us took my sister and I outside and told us duppy stories, Jamaican legends and folk tales.
the stars
Night time was beautiful. She showed us the various clusters of stars, Orion and his Dog, Leo, the Plough, the North Star, Aries, and Gemini. There was also the magic of the thousands of fireflies flicking their lights on and off in unison.
All of that ended when electricity came to the village. Every house now had a radio. Children no longer heard duppy stories, or saw fireflies at nights. My mother did not have to buy meat and fish each day as she could now keep a week's supply refrigerated. She no longer used a flat iron to press our clothes; there was now an electric iron.
We had iced water every day. My father bought packaged ice cream and no longer used the ice cream bucket to produce home-made vanilla and grape nut ice cream. We no longer used card board to fan ourselves cool during the hot nights; we had electric fans.
Later came an electric washing machine, and an electric sewing machine. Still later, came a television set - first showing pictures in black and white and later in colour.
This change in my village took place only 50 years ago. There are many other villages and towns in Jamaica who first began to enjoy electricity in the 1970s. Before then, nobody demonstrated because they had no electricity or domestic water.
