What if the power goes out??????

I had to make a post on a discussion board as an assignment for one of my college courses for the paper I am writing. It is about math in the business world. One of the questions I am going to attempt to answer is "What if the power goes out". Then I started to think about every day life, and the power going out. We lose our lives for a period of time. No t.v., or computers, lights, stereos, even our way to cook, all gone for a period of time. What do we do? First, we complain and call the power company. Then we light candles, or get the flash lights out. And wait. This is not a good time. I am here to tell you it will not last (too long). I experienced just an ordeal in 1999, when Hurricane Hugo came ashore in Charleston,S.C. We went 17 days without any power. The first few days were rough, but we (everyone that lived on our street) got to know everyone else real well. See without power your refrigerator and freezers start defrosting. In about 3 days the food in them start going bad, I say this to say we all ate real well. It started with a couple families on the first evening, had to do this before dark or you could not see, would pull our grills to the street and start cooking an evening meal. It was great fun and good food. A few days later we even started doing breakfast like this, everyone would bring a little something and we would eat and learn a little about each other. It is amazing what you can do with a cast iron skillet and some charcoal. But more importantly, we as a neighborhood got to know each other. I for one was not the get out and meet the neighbors type. But when this storm came it changed all of us. We really got to enjoy each others company, kids and pets. We grew closer and became quite good friends. I left the area 3 years later so I don't know if it still continues but each year after Hugo on September 21 we met in the middle of the street just as we had done in the past and had a big cook-out and just relaxed for 3-4 hours and looked back on that time. Even though the power did come back on we stayed very close and would always stop and chat about just things. We realized that even though it was a rough time for many, we were lucky that we have a God that brought a bunch of total strangers together and we learned to play and love and survive through a very tough time. So next time the power goes out, don't complain get, out your grill and invite the neighborhood over and meet new friends. When the power is gone, use the power God has given you to light the neighbor and the world.