A 12-hour timeframe changed my life forever and a valuable lesson was learned. 

I strive to be understanding, patient and always give people the benefit of the doubt. While I don’t trust blindly, I will assume someone is a good person and had the best of intentions until proven otherwise. If you prove to me that you aren’t a good person, I lack the ability to pretend to like you. When I do not like you, you know it. 

However, I may be taking understanding and patience to the extreme. That enlightenment started in the dark. 

I walked into the house on Aug. 10 at 6 p.m., after a long day at work. While I was looking forward to relaxation (after light housework of course), it was not to be. I was welcomed home by no electricity. A strong storm had just blown through that evening. As it has in the past, it took our electric with it. 

After the last bad storm, we were without power until the next day – us and a lot of other people. I always feel bad for those utility employees. They’re out in all kinds of weather and even during the nighttime trying to get people’s electricity back on. So, I wait patiently in the knowledge that they will get to us when the can. 

On Aug. 10, I set about opening windows and doors to let a breeze pass through the house. I turned light switches on as I made my way through the house. Each flip was followed by an eye roll. Habits die hard. 

Along with illumination, there’s a lot associated with electricity that I enjoy. Think of all the appliances and devices that now sat useless: television, refrigerator, stove, fan, coffee maker, can opener, water heater, etc. 

When hunger hit, I had to go the store and purchase a manual can opener. That night’s dinner was a can of chicken topped with guacamole. 

As the sun disappeared, I brought out candles and lighters that I keep for such emergencies. I went around the house looking for safe places for those to be placed. 

Additionally, I shot a text to my daughter warning her of our current predicament. At least one of us would have a hot meal. 

A sleepless night passed without a flicker. Again, not unusual. 

My daughter’s patience ran out the next morning at 6 a.m. and she called. There wasn’t an outage. It was just us. A limb we couldn’t see from the house had fallen on the line. 

Some women dream of a knight on a white horse to rescue them. Not sure if I need that, but a man driving a white Caney Fork Electric truck was an amazingly welcome sight Tuesday morning. He had our electricity on in 20 minutes. 

Valuable lesson learned: a polite inquiry is perfectly OK. 

Lisa Hobbs can be reached at citynews@southernstandard.com.