The Unbearable Bleakness of No Electricity

Too frequent, too untimely, and much too long, electricity cuts have become a part of daily Lebanese life.

I’m sure most of us schedule our days around the availability of electricity, knowing exactly when it goes out and when it should come back. For example, I know that my electricity cuts for five minutes every three hours, starting at 6:00 a.m. Thus I never turn on my washing machine in those nerve-wrecking minutes, and nor do I start up my computer. I time my life around those frequent five minutes, shouting hallelujahs to the kahraba gods when my electricity finally decides to come back.

And just like this graffiti message that reads “It came, it came, hurry before it cuts again!” I too run and plug in everything when I can. But then again, I’m pretty sure we all do.

Thanks to @zsamaha for tweeting the pic!