When I was very young, I used to think that I was one of those people who had kinetic energy gone awry. It seemed that I broke everything electrical, without meaning to, and without using the stuff incorrectly. I had a spate of watches that broke on me just a few weeks apart; the toaster would break, then the trash compactor, then my radio, then the microwave. I thought I was some supernatural freak in a movie, like Powder or the dude in the Green Mile. It wouldn’t happen all the time, but an episode would erupt, then subside.
Eventually, however, I realized that this was an irrational thought/fear – maybe even the delusion – of a young child who had been raised to believe in the lives of the Saints, miracles, and other fairy tales. The watches were cheap, and I lived in an old-ish house with a bunch of appliances that had been gerry-rigged and daisy-chained together.
But to this day, every once in a while, the electrical stuff around me just goes on the fritz, one after another, all around the same time. That’s when I start to think that maybe, just maybe, I really do have this ‘power’. For example, in the past couple of months, we’ve had the following electrical gadgets have stop functioning:
- my monitor
- the fan beside the stovetop
- the washing machine
- the blender
- the new Littermaid cat box
- my Palm Pilot
- the cell phone, and digital camera have also been working inconsistently
Seriously, though, I know that it’s a coincidence. What should I expect after dropping the cell phone in the toilet? Besides the Palm 3 is ancient, and I really just broke the blender making soap.
But what if? It’s not too far from the realm of the possible. We’re all a bunch of atomic particles and electrical impulses, right? It doesn’t make any sense to me, but that doesn’t make it impossible.
Labels: personal