People Are Sharing The Most “Horrifying” Parts About Where They Live

“The first year it happened, every power outage was met with comments about it. Everyone complaining, neighbors yelling, ‘YOU GUYS TOO OR JUST US?’ ‘WE’RE DARK HERE TOO!’ ‘SAME HERE! THOUGHT I TRIPPED A BREAKER THANKS NEIGHBOR.’ Chatter, activity, just without power. 

A couple of years went by, with Summer outages, and the comments became more scattered. It stopped being a noteworthy event. Just another one. No neighbors interacting. No people sitting outside anymore. No one taking advantage to grill instead. I just bought backup power and small solar panels to keep things going when it inevitably happens.

But then a new neighbor moved in last year with a baby and a dog. The power went out as usual. She freaked out, alone with a baby. She came knocking on my door while I was home alone. It was past sunset, so it was pitch black, and she was scared, standing on my porch with her phone flashlight, baby in a carrier, as she asked what was going on. No one else had opened the door for her, no one responded to the knocking and the calling out. Her dog looked uneasy. I asked if she needed anything, all she wanted was to know what was happening. I told her it was just one of the summer power outages.

It didn’t hit me until that interaction that every summer, for hours at a time, my neighborhood just accepts not having power. It’s like the whole neighborhood gets turned off. We’re ready for it and we don’t bother asking each other about it. When people move in and it happens to them, they’re met with silence about it. If the new neighbor hadn’t had a baby with her, I’m not sure if I would’ve answered the door. I’m not suspicious of people in general, but when the power goes out I already assume everyone knows and is home dealing with it, so a stranger showing up is immediately unwelcome and suspect. All my neighbors have said the same. Usually, we’re pretty chill with people knocking on our doors, but when the power goes out in the summer, we regard them differently. Even known neighbors. Why are they out there, it can’t be the power outage, something must be wrong.“

—PhantomIridescence