The Uncertainty Principle: 09/07/08

I have to admit that I had to reread "The Uncertainty Principle" by Lynda Curnyn because I missed the hook of the story, namely the power outage in New York City. Actually though I really enjoyed this short story.

Trace Spencer telecommutes and doesn't realize the enormity of the situation at first when the power goes out in her apartment. All she can think of is the work she's lost, a caption for an ad that she should have worked on ages ago but hasn't. Instead she's been fretting over the recent breakup with her boyfriend.

It takes Trace the rest of the story to put her lost file and her ex-boyfriend into perspective. She spends much of that time realizing just how cut off she is from the rest of the world with the power out: her cell phone doesn't work, she can't email, she doesn't have batteries for a radio and can't watch the news on her TV. As someone who has been telecommuting I know that sense of isolation especially when something disrupts the normal flow of things. Trace Spencer's experience is more extreme than anything that's happened in my two years but it does bring to mind how much life has changed with the internet.

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