Durban - The stifling, searing heat around the couch turned blue last Friday, including from the panting canines.
There’s no need to consult the couch scientific research facility to make a generalisation here and say that every single Saffer and their dog (or cat) knows the fury caused by an electricity outage. They strike anywhere, any time and most often, without warning.
So it was last Friday. Which just happens to be the day our teams wrap up your Saturday newspapers to deliver interesting, informative and leisurely reads.
Huge areas of Durban, including mine, went dark at about 11am-ish.
Nowadays, thanks to Eskom, we have all learned about hot spots and making sure there is enough mobile data so you can operate in the dark. And we kind of expect them to last a couple-y hours. This obviously excludes those government-forsaken areas which constantly live powerless in so many senses of the word.
So, for a while, it was manageable. Big places like newspaper buildings have generators. Others outside the blackout area were fine, and we WhatsApped and emailed across the country.
As the hours grew longer and darker, the deadlines looming, the phone battery power shrank. Power saving delayed the inevitable and it finally shut down. My wonderful little car, which has had one tank of fuel for about six months, had more action than it’s seen in two years as I tried to charge the phone. After an hour of gentle idling, it went up by about 3%.
Finally, I threw in the towel and dumped it all on my teammates.
Which brings me to two points, both vital in life: timing and integrity.
I am so thankful I had already written last week’s On The Couch in praise of magnificent friendleagues who always step up in chaos; and, sadly, I have broken my word.
If the timing of the outage was the very worst, that expression of gratitude to friendleagues was the very best. If it had been written this week after throwing them all under the bus last Friday afternoon, it could have been misconstrued as brown-nosing of the worst kind. But they responded exactly as I described: calm, solid, reliable, professional, pulling rabbits out of the hat and having each other’s backs in an emergency. Absolute treasures.
Not being able to pull my weight made me feel as useless as single-use plastic.
As for my word, it’s usually take-it-to-the-bank solid. Never make promises or say things you haven’t thoroughly considered and you’re sure you can fulfil. So it was when, during a particularly icy cold snap last winter, I vowed publicly I would never complain about the heat again. This declaration was made from the depths of blankets, sweat pants, three layers of sweat shirt, double pairs of socks, fluffy slippers, and a huddle of cold dogs. We could barely move and I really believed the heat was way better.
But that’s only valid if you have nests of fans going. Last Friday’s outage shut them down and I complained until power was restored at 23.38. I checked the time on my phone when I put it straight onto charge.
I apologise, but you really can take my word that friendleagues are the very best.
- Lindsay Slogrove is the News Editor
The Independent on Saturday