Where were you?

Where were you when the power went out? That is the question everyone seems to be asking today.
A photo, from Channel 3 News shows the cause: 

I was home. No great story.

E. called on the cell from his work. No power, no work. He'd be home in an hour if the power didn't come back on by then.

Soon a banging knock at the front door told me all was not well with our neighbors. It was Drew, our across the street neighbor. "You got power?"
Obviously not. The door bell wasn't working...
"Damn. Damn." Drew repeated this several more times.
He continued: "I was writing a paper for an online class I'm taking. Using my laptop. Haven't saved in 2 days. Think it's still there?"
You can tell Drew was 'angry'. His choppy sentences/phrases gave away the seething, burning anger inside of him.
"What about your laptop battery? Is it still charged? Is the laptop still on?" I asked this knowing it was a dumb question. Of course not. His laptop battery only held a charge for the first few minutes, then it failed. And he failed to save his work.
Drew stomped back home, determined to find an internet coffee shop or fast food place that still had power. Good luck.

Five minutes later, another knock on the front door. This time, a timid knock. It was Jason, the kid from next door. Jason is going to grow up to be a nerd. But right now, he is a music lovin', computer game lovin' geeky kid.

"Your power out?" he asked as soon as I opened the door.
"Yep."
"Do you think I did it? I was playing a computer game... You think I did it?"
"No, Jason - it was transformer blow up at the substation. If you look way over to the south, you can see the black smoke. See it?" I pointed southward.
"Oh. Yea. Well, I thought I did it. You see, I was playing a computer game that my parents told me not to play. And they're not home, so I thought I could play it without getting in trouble - you know what I mean? And then 'BAM' the power went out! I ran out and looked at the circuit breakers, but none look blown. Are you sure I didn't blow a breaker? My dad's gonna kill me if I did."

"You're BUSTED" I laughed.
The look on his face broke my heart.
"No, no, Jason - it wasn't you. You didn't cause it, really." 

Anyway, I invited Jason in for a glass of warm lemonade. He seemed plenty upset and needing to explain his reasons for playing the 'game'. It turns out it isn't a 'bad game' - it's a game he is supposed to play with his little brother - meaning, he can only play when his little brother is home! Which he wasn't...

Warm lemonade. A heart to heart talk. I heard his dreams - he wants to grow up and be 'just like E'. He wants to be an engineer, smart, talented, handsome, have a fast car, lots of dogs, and cool games. He wants to be E.

Jason's a good kid. He'll go far with his dreams. If he doesn't get BUSTED along the way.