Brown out? To complain or not?

While having lunch in a small café, I overheard a group of friends chatting about the recent brown outs that is happening in our area which is caused by heavy rain and strong winds. To be specific, they are talking about the people who bash the electric cooperative in their social media page. They are actually defending the cause of the EC that it is not their fault that their poles and lines are toppled by the strong winds caused by the weather. They also recognize our line man who is working every time an emergency power interruption occurs.

Being an employee of an electric cooperative, I am honestly touched that there are still people who appreciate our work to the point defending us from negative bashers. I understand how important electricity these days because aside from being an employee of an electric cooperative, I am also a consumer. This means that whenever brown out and black out occurs, it is also inconvenient for me and for my family. And so I understand their reactions because I am experiencing it too. What I don’t understand is how people negatively reacts to it, as if they cannot live a day without it. Maybe it is their right to complain but sometimes their whines and grumbles are below the belt that they are wishing for something bad to happen to the people working in the electric utility.

I realized that these people reacted that way because they do not know what is happening whenever there is brown out. They never thought that while they are complaining and wishing for negative things to happen, some people are working hard to make sure that they can restore the power immediately.

We live in a city where there are mountains and some lines are off the road that even a 4x4 vehicle cannot enter it. Imagine these people working at night, away from the comfort of their homes, will traverse these terrains while carrying heavy poles and equipment just to bring comfort to your homes. Imagine these people will work over night, even if they are not on duty, just to bring back the power needed by all of its consumers. Imagine these people will climb along the 45 footer poles just for you to watch a movie in your high end television. Imagine how they sacrifice to be away from their family during weekend or holidays just to replace the toppled pole and repair the broken transformer. I know that some will tell that it is their job to do it and they are paid to do it, but to wish bad thing to happen for them is cruel. Yes it is.

I am not a lineman, I do not wake up at night for an emergency call because I am needed to go back to work because the whole city has no power. Although I am not like them, I am very much affected every time I hear the adverse feedback of people who close their hearts to understand the heavy work behind the brown out. And so, how much pain could it be if it is the lineman who can hear it? How much ache could be if it is their family who can see your negative comment?

I hope next time, every time there is brown out, let us be careful of our words and of our comments. We do not know what is happening behind it and how hard the work is. I know it is inconvenient for you, but do you know how much inconvenient it for them and for their family? And so, whenever there is brown out, we can always think twice whether we complain or not. 

Disclaimer: This post is my own and does not represent the opinion of my company