In light of the recent power outage to some 15, 000 homes in the Perth metropolitan area, I couldn’t help but think back to the time my bestie had a power cut – or rather, she put too much cheese on her cheese sandwich, which exploded a little, shorting out the microwave, which cut all the power to the house. Instead of rectifying the situation immediately, she did what any normal gal would do, and proceeded to sit there eating her cheesy heroin fix in pitch black darkness. Possibly questioning her life choices, but probably not. Cheese tastes fuckin’ good, ok?!

Anyway, my own experiences with power outages have not been as shamefully tasty, but I sure love to make the most of ‘em. Being someone who was born before every two-year old had their own tablet, I really miss the days whereby we “made our own fun”, and other such non-swipey activities. So you can imagine my excitement when, one evening, a power cut forced all of my flatmates to *gasp!* INTERACT with me, with no screens to be found (everyone was saving their phone batteries, so left them quietly sitting blank over yonder).

Mad with power, I lit every available candle and dusted off all the board games, before locking the doors and shooting my flatmates with tranquilisers strong enough to bend them to my will, but not strong enough to render them incapable of the mental pathways required for a heated round of Scrabble or Yahtzee. When the board games were done, and some of my prisoners had escaped, the last two remaining were myself and one kindly flatmate who I’m pretty sure felt sorry for me. Each tucking ourselves into our respective beds, we left our bedroom doors opened and proceeded to play 20 Questions, by yelling to each other across the hallway.

It was a magical weekend and one I shall cherish dearly, for I got to know the joy of interacting with my friends without their phones glued to their hands, their eyes always roaming for the bigger, better deal. No, I am not a crazy needy cat lady. Yes, maybe I am.

Embrace the odd power outage and find your friends in the dark!

Love, Akika!