Editor: Re: Urban society slides into helplessness (B.C. Views, The Times, Sept. 9).
Thanks for the article on the way society cannot handle any small upsets to the status quo.
I remember the big windstorm of 2006, which incidentally was in December.
I was a 60-plus senior at the time, and my power was out in a residential area of Colwood for five and a half days, as our two-house power line was not a high priority in the queue. I watched the Hydro trucks go by day after day, waiting my turn for reconnection.
Fortunately I have a wood stove that can heat my house, boil water and cook food. It does get tiresome living by candlelight but I had my disaster radio nearby to listen to the local station give updates on how Hydro was doing.
Most of my freezer contents were moved to friends’ homes, and my garden shed became my refrigerator.
Anyone with common sense can understand that the repair crews work tirelessly to restore power as quickly as possible, and perhaps the media could help by reminding people that they need to fend for themselves for several days if the major earthquake ever occurs. Calling 911 just clogs up the lines and can stop people from getting through with real emergencies.
Whatever will we do when the “big one” comes?
Margaret Mercer,
Colwood
Response is ‘worrying’
Editor: Many thanks for this column. I believe that the reliance by people on government combined with the emotional response and seeming helplessness by many citizens to even temporary inconveniences is worrying in the least and perhaps dangerous in the longer run.
Please write more about this issue.
Allan Woodbury,
Delta
‘Learned helplessness’
Editor: I couldn’t agree more with your article on how we now need the government or some other entity to look out for us every day, all day. I believe the term for it is “learned helplessness.”
Lloyd Jenkins,
Langford