Power went out during a rainstorm last Tuesday and I stood in my kitchen for 10 minutes just staring at the dark before I remembered flashlights exist

I was halfway through making pasta at 6 PM when the lights flickered and died, and instead of grabbing the emergency kit in the drawer I just stood there like a statue until my roomate came home and asked why I was holding dry spaghetti in the dark, does anyone else freeze up during minor emergencies and then feel dumb after?

2 comments

2 Comments

robert_rodriguez662d agoTop Commenter

First Tuesday of the month I always check the flashlights now after I stood in a dark walk-in cooler for a full 3 minutes before I remembered my phone has a light on it. Keep a cheap flashlight on your keychain or one of those little ones that sticks to the fridge with a magnet. Put it where you literally cannot miss it when you're standing there like a statue. Also train yourself to say "phone" out loud the second the lights go out because that muscle memory of pulling it out of your pocket is usually faster than finding a real flashlight. You're not dumb, your brain just went into standby mode.

black.mark2d ago

Read something once about how the brain basically reboots during a sudden blackout, which is why you forget obvious stuff like your phone. Apparently it's a survival reflex that pauses your normal thinking to scan for immediate threats. That "standby mode" explanation you gave makes total sense, it's like your brain just went blank for a second.