Is there (any) joy in power cuts?

From a business and economic point of view, no.

But what about personally? Is there any way we can find pleasure in no electricity? Here are a few (only slightly ironic) of my favourite things about power cuts:

Candlelight! What a romantic way to eat a dinner of bread and cheese. Everyone looks better in the soft glow of candlelight, so there’s a good chance that Eskom’s mistake could end up sparking off more than a few new romances.

No TV. Now, I’m as much a fan of Monday-night TV as the next person, but take away the chance to veg out in front of the little black box, take away the chance to read the newspaper or a book, take away computers and the internet, and what do you have? The opportunity for real conversation with those you live with (or those who have come over to camp out by candlelight). This is no small feat! Enforced communication can be a beautiful thing.

Healthier food. There’s a whole movement out there devoted to raw food. Take away electricity and there’s no option but to eat a nice big salad and fresh bread for supper. Delicious!

More sleep. In the olden days (you know, back then) people used to sleep when the sun set and rise when it rose. Now we’ve created artificial day at night and we can stay up till all hours (wired on our electrically fuelled technology). Take away the lights and our bodies naturally get tired earlier, leading to more hours of sleep and happier, more rested bodies and minds.

So maybe (just maybe) on the home front, these power cuts could actually turn out to be a good thing. Think about it — all of a sudden we’ve been given more romance, more communication, healthier food and more sleep.

What more could we ask for?

Well, maybe a nice hot cuppa before bed.