The Bahamas Electricity Corporation, BEC as it's known here, must have been listening to old Pat Travers CDs yesterday.
It was "Boom, Boom. Out go the lights!"
Being a country that is. . .well. . . sort of. . .kind of. . .not exactly third. . . more like "second" world, the Bahamas has its share of structural issues.
Sometimes its Batelco (or the soooooo exciting new moniker for the company, "BTC") with the phones.
Sometimes its Water & Sewerage (but to be fair, they have provided better and more consistent service than any of the others. Quite commendable, actually.)
But more often than not, it's the Bahamas Electricity Corporation. The power went out in our area for nearly 5 hours yesterday, amid wrangling between the union and company management over some dispute. It really doesn't matter who is to blame--I'm sure both sides are entitled to their fair share--it's the regular consumers who suffer. What's more, the price of electricity has skyrocketed in the face of this less-than-sufficient service.
Although the time without power allowed the family to play cards, and a testy game of Yahtzee,
as well as to spend some time lighting off fireworks with the neighbors (taking advantage of the darkness, of course), the situation struck me as being ripe with Five Important Life Lessons:
Lesson One (learned a long time ago by other nations): Governments should not run utilities.
Lesson Two: It might not be such a good idea to let your 12-year-old break the stick off a bottle rocket and light it. The rocket tends to shoot in unexpected directions.
Lesson Three: Don't wait for the power to go off to do something with your neighbors.
Lesson Four: Kids can roll Yahtzee as well as adults do. 
Lesson Five: Maybe it's time to dig out those old Pat Travers albums, buy an old record player from some electronics store with retro-items to sell, and crank up the tunes!
Boom! Boom!
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