As anyone in Orono or most of Maine knows, the storm on Sunday night into Monday morning left Maine in a state of emergency. Power was out for hundreds and thousands of people, and power companies are continuing to work hard. As college students without power, it was definitely a struggle for us to adjust our lifestyles. However, it was definitely a moment you will look back at and remember as part of your college experience. If you were in Orono without power, this is probably close to how your experience went during the blackout.
You were probably confused at first…
- “What? Why did all the lights just go off in my 8 AM?”
- “Why won’t my lights turn on? Was that a tree that just fell on the house?”
- “Do I go to my classes today? what is happening out there?”
Then super excited that classes were cancelled…
- “YES! No classes ALL day!”
- “This is the best non-snow day snow day ever.”
- “I can’t wait to lay in bed allllllll day long and not do all the work I need to do.”
But then the hunger and caffeine deprivation hit you..
- “Well, now I’m starving and I can’t make anything.”
- “THERE’S NOWHERE IN ORONO TO GET COFFEE and my Keurig is dead.”
- *goes on wild search for food, looks like the apocalypse occurred in Orono, everywhere in Bangor is packed*
And then the impatience and boredom kicks in…
- “Ummmm okay, it’s time to get our power back it’s been like six hours.”
- *30 hours later* “Alright now everywhere else has power but the street where 70% of students live, this is ridiculous.”
- “I might go crazy if I can’t fall asleep with a fan for ANOTHER night.”
Anger came next and stayed for a while…
- “I seriously have to sleep on the floor of the rec center since the dorms don’t have power?”
- “I had a dream the power was back on and I woke up and it wasn’t.”
- “WHY do we have class when most off campus students don’t have power?”
- “I literally spent so much money on food at this point.”
- “I have to throw out ALL my food in the fridge I JUST bought.”
- “I haven’t showered in three days… guess I can take a cold one.”
- “I’m boycotting homework because there’s no Wi-Fi AND my professors better extend deadlines.”
- “I don’t feel safe that there’s no power on Halloween night…yikes.”
And just when you thought nothing could save you from the misery…
- *Lights turn on all the sudden* “OMG what are lights I haven’t seen those in ages?!”
- “Someone said the power is back on, YAZ!”
- “I just saw a snap of the power back on. Let’s go home and take an hour long shower, while watching TV, with the heat on, and use all the power we can.”
I’m sure you said at least one of these dramatic quotes at some point during this crazy week in Orono. But now that the trauma is over we can look back and laugh about how ridiculous we acted without having power for just a few days.