Weird
thing happened this week.
Hurricane.
Well,
actually, a tropical storm.
Ahead
of landfall, I was paying attention to the news. I don’t happen
to live near where it was approaching, but I once did. Know plenty
of people that do live in the area. Wanted to be aware of things
from their perspective, and reached out to a few in case they
needed some help.
From
all the information I was looking at, one thing really struck
me. It involved details of an announcement from a power company.
Essentially said people should prepare for a service disruptions
of five to ten days.
I
need to point out that we are about to step off a curb—so to speak—and
into a realm of opinion and wandering thought. I’m not identifying
locations or business names for very specific reasons. Mainly,
they are the items that kicked off the progression and not the
real debate that we arrive at down the road. I have zero evidence
that any of this is accurate, just that it is fascinating to think
it might be, and that it has some really interesting applications
to other scenarios if used.
Got
it? Good. Here we go…
I
have seen decades of storms in my lifetime. Nothing unusual there.
Many of us have. And along with those become the associated elements
such as physical danger, property damage and disrupted services.
You
understand. People can get hurt. Buildings can be destroyed. The
power can go out. Pretty straightforward.
(Here’s
where it gets funny.)
People
have become trained by what I’d describe as a heightened sense
of immediacy. We want results and information. Now. Right
now. We’ve roared beyond the arrival of twenty-four-hour news
cycles into pulling out our phones and expecting updates within
seconds. (Sarcasm alert: Accuracy not always included.)
To
a large degree, this sense of immediacy has come to define our
lives. Free two-day shipping brings about being unsatisfied and
disappointed by free four or five day shipping. We want what we
want and we want it an hour ago. (So much for patience and virtues.)
Which
brings me back around to those storms.
I
went through lots of power outages as a kid. Some of them were
brought about by strong storms. Generational storms. Fill the
bathtub with water just in case storms. I don’t ever recall up-to-the-minute
status reports being available, including the number of houses
without power and whether or not a crew was assigned.
When
I was young and the power went out, you didn’t go online to see
the disruption of service area. You hopped on your bike, rode
around a bit, then came back home. You’d report that the lights
were out on however many streets, all the way to the insert-name-of-kid-in-your-school-parents-know-here
house. (Modify the eight-year-old’s report as appropriate.)
Not
today. Today there are apps and web sites and more. Just grab
the phone and start the search. Report the outage. Get text updates.
Go go go.
(Once,
I learned how outdated e-mail is. Yup. Outdated. I got a text
message from the power company saying service had been restored.
So, by the time I next checked my e-mails and had a similar message
there, the news was old and unnecessary.)
A
few years ago, we got hit by a storm that knocked the power out
for multiple days. As you might imagine, this caused a massive
backlash. People were upset they didn’t have electricity. Accusations
of incompetence. Questions about how equipment was maintained
and updated. And, a few steps above all that, a collective cry
wondering what the hell was taking so long to get the power back
on. (I’m sure the outcry would have been even worse had people
remembered to charge their phones before the storm.)
Remember
at the beginning I mentioned that something about this storm struck
me? I noted that there were announcements that people should prepare
for power loss that could last five to ten days. And, what I didn’t
say at that time was my problem with it: Was this extended outage
estimate an actual possibility?
Now,
let’s pause for a moment. Think about the ground we’ve covered.
Growing
up, you had this untested trust in service providers of all types.
You were the customer, and would pay for the service. They were
the provider, and in return for your business they would do their
best to maintain the service. Simple.
I
think a lot of people are chuckling a bit at that last paragraph.
They’re thinking about the good old days and muttering about how
it’s all profit and doing as little as possible now.
So,
I ask: Was the five to ten days of power outage a real possibility?
Or, was the company floating this five to ten days thing out there,
so if they got power back up in three or four to almost everyone
they would look good?
(My
words) Company spokesperson was reached: “Hey, look at that.
We expected things to be bad. Told you five or more days. But
thanks to our hard-working staff we got it back in four days.
You’re welcome.”
I
have to admit, with my critical and pessimistic moments of thought,
I’m a bit more than slightly skeptical about it being real. I
truly find myself wondering if it’s possible that instead of being
a kind and thoughtful message for preparedness to customers, this
is an attempt to manage expectations and spin the public relations
part of the narrative.
Knowing
more is a great thing. Ease of information access is wonderful.
I do appreciate the immediacy.
But
I have to admit, I kind of miss riding my bike for the news while
trusting that those providing my services were doing their best
with my interests out front. Those were good old days.