Powerless

 

I am powerless. 

 

We are approximately 3 hours into a power outage and I am about to lose my mind.

 

Most days, Gary is unable to remember what appointments he has and asks me, on average, about every 30 minutes.  And, although I remind him every 30 minutes what appointments he has, he is still quite surprised when they happen.

 

Not today, though.  Today, he was supposed to get a haircut but, because we have no power, we had to reschedule.  Today, he remembers he was supposed to get a haircut.  The one time I would prefer he didn’t remember but…. no.  He knows he was supposed to get a haircut.  And now he isn’t.  I think he isn’t getting a haircut because we are powerless, but he is quite sure he isn’t getting a haircut because it’s part of some maniacal plan I have hatched.  So, the first hour of the power outage was spent with him yelling that he knows the power isn’t really out and he doesn’t understand why I’m doing this to him.  When I pointed out that the lights were out, the TV was off, his phone wasn’t charging, he informed me that he knows I just unplugged everything to torment him. 

 

That changed, though, when he imagined he saw workers from the electric company in our driveway.  It was at that point he accepted there was an actual power outage.  It was also at that point he decided he wanted to go talk to the imaginary power workers in our driveway.

 

As luck would have it, his hospital bed was delivered today.  He was fiddling with it when the power went off so he was stuck in an uncomfortable position and, because the bed was raised off the ground, I was reluctant to risk a fall by trying to get him up to talk to imaginary utility workers.   And because I wouldn’t get him out of the raised bed, he has decided that I am holding him hostage and he is currently screaming as loud as he can to get the attention of the imaginary utility workers so that they will come rescue him.

I am powerless.

 

And also, our electricity is off.