A Day without Batteries
Batteries are the unsung heroes of the modern electronic world. They have worked their way into the smallest nooks and crannies, powering and supporting everything from flashlights and portable clocks to automobiles, smartphones and more. Without batteries, the modern world would quickly grind to a halt. If these portable and dependable powerhouses stopped working for a day, the world would look very different from the life that society has grown accustomed to. We have put together a short story of how a typical day might go if suddenly overnight, all batteries just stopped working.
The Hypothetical Story
You wake up in a panic. Not from the usual obnoxious blare from your alarm clock, but worse, from the sound of silence. You glance over at your trusted alarm clock only to see a black screen staring back at you. Anxiety rises and you stretch across your dresser to check the time of your brand new watch, only to find that it is no longer ticking and it's hands have come to a painful stop at 9:34. Great. You may not know what time it is, but you are definitely late for work. You pick up your cell phone to call in and let the office know you overslept, but wait, the phone won’t work! With rising frustration, you decide to skip the morning shower, grab a breakfast bar from the cabinet, pick up the keys from the counter and head out the door...you can explain when you get there.
As you jump in behind the steering wheel and insert the keys, you realize the battery is completely dead. What else could go wrong? There you sit for a while, staring at your bicycle, wondering if you could possibly bike the 30 miles to the office. After ultimately deciding against it, you venture out to find the nearest pay phone to call in to work and let them know you will be spending the day working from home.
Finally returning to your house, you take out your laptop, ready to get started on today’s work. But wait, your laptop won’t turn on. Is this a cruel joke? Giving up on the possibility of getting any work done today, you walk by the TV and snap on the power button, grab the remote and plop down on the couch. But with no surprise, the remote has completely stopped working and it looks like you are stuck with America’s Home Shopping Network.
Reluctantly you decide to go for a run to relieve some of your now built up stress. You pick up your iPod and headphones and head outside. A few steps down the road and you realize no music is playing. You stop, snatch the headphones out of your ears and throw the iPod onto the ground in a fit of anger. Why is this happening?! A storm cloud looms above and you resolve to forget the run and head back home…the HSN doesn't look so bad anymore.
You slump back onto your couch and stare at the TV screen. A loud roar of thunder cracks, and the television set flickers. Figures. A few more flashes and the TV set turns into a black box. You scurry around the house to find your emergency flashlight as the lights in your house begin to dim. Relief takes over when you finally spot the flashlight and the wavering overhead lights culminate in final darkness. You put your finger over the switch, hear the click, and sadly continue to gaze into the dark. Of course, the flashlight doesn't work.
Succumbing to the fact that today is just not your day, you collapse down to the floor, curl up in a ball and decide to just fall asleep and hope that tomorrow will be better.
The Learnt Conclusion
Maybe a bit far-stretched (or maybe not!), a day without batteries would without a doubt be, in the very least, inconvenient. In today’s society we forget how much we actually rely on batteries to power things that get us through the day. It’s interesting to reflect on how something so minuscule is actually one of the most important items of our everyday life.
