I fire up the Oil lamps
To pay the appropriate credit where it is due, I'll tell the other story about that whippersnapper who watched the movie with me.
Last October, we had an unexpected 9-hour power outage. I was annoyed, as I wanted to chill in the lobby and play some video games, but I've voluntarily camped in poorer conditions. A dorm without power is still paradise compared to most of the world. Running water, flushing toilets, and a roof that doesn't leak make for a decent place to live even if the lights don't work. Kids were going home in droves. I think the dorms were down to half capacity that night.
So a few of us get ready to head over to the visitor center where the foodservice folks had set up dinner. We do a few cookouts and such on campus during the year, so they had plenty of grills, chafing dishes, and other assorted improvised equipment, and we knew it would be a good meal. The only concern I had was the fact that the campus was
completely dark. No moon, high clouds, and a three square block area was in the dark. I wasn't too worried about the fact that we live in a rough neighborhood here, but they were in the process of repairing many of the sidewalks on campus, so there were some pretty serious ankle-breakers all over campus. Naturally, I grab my flashlight and head down the stairs. As I come out, I see "whippersnapper" coming down the opposite stairs. He gets outside, I hear a loud metal squeak, he whips out a lighter...
"Andy, what are you doing?"
"Lighting this thing up. It's a pain with this zippo."
"What thing?"
It was a brakeman's lantern. Not the kind that runs on those big 6-volt batteries. I mean a real oil lantern.
Suddenly, it dawns on me... Andy is in real good shape, always clean shaven, opens doors for people, whips his cap off when he goes inside, and now he's... prepared... hmmm.
"Andy, what was your Eagle project?"
"Oh, we redid the carpet in my church and made cushions for the pews... Wait, how'd you know I'm an Eagle Scout?"
"Heh... lucky guess."
He's class of '08.
