I’m a dog person. They are protectors, they are companions and they will sacrifice themselves for you at the drop of a hat.
I have a tiny little dog that ran into a wood pile to try and scare off a raccoon. Unfortunately, the raccoon didn’t want intruders, and my dog suffered the consequences. But she still ran in, all in the name of making sure we were safe (even though we were, but I don’t tell her that after what she went through).
But last Friday, another dog decided to take a day off and leave me fending for myself. Thanks Fido.
Yes, I was caught up in the big outage, my phone disconnected from the rest of the world. No calls in or out, no service outside of a Wi-Fi zone. Good God, it was like 1998 all over again.
There were many more important services that were affected – emergency services, interact, websites, the works. Handmade signs everywhere saying ‘cash or credit only, no interact.’ For some people, this is a real problem – lots of people only use interact to not overspend using credit cards.
I can’t remember the last time I paid for fuel at a gas station with cash. Ever since we moved to pay before filling, I haven’t stepped through the door to pre-pay my purchase. And cash? What’s that? Luckily, I’d squirreled away a couple of bills in my wallet for just such an occasion. I think they’ve been there for a while, as I still had a couple paper bills in there, collecting dust.
I think the biggest impact on me was a trip to West Van. When I was ready to head back to South Delta, I had to choose – Lions Gate or Second Narrows? In true modern fashion, I don’t guess, I use Google Maps. Except this time, I can’t. I was paralyzed, unable to gather the information I’d relied on to get myself off the North Shore in the least amount of time.
Time to choose. Choose wisely, lest you be stuck on a congested road for goodness knows how long….and you chose wrong.
Well, on the bright side, it gave me a chance to chat with my wife. Ironically, she’s the one always telling me to put my phone down.
Maybe Fido wasn’t letting me down at all, just reminding me that I shouldn’t be looking at a screen all the time.
Thanks Fido.
Brad Sherwin, MBA is a long-time resident of South Delta, and has over 30 years’ experience in marketing, public relations and business strategy. He teaches post-secondary marketing, coaches hockey goalies and is past president of Deltassist.
