My electricity went out Sunday, for about five minutes. I was sitting at the computer and watching the game on TV, and all of a sudden I was looking at two blank screens. This happens often enough that I should be used to it, but I'm not.

I pounded the desk, as I always do. I cursed the hypothetical darkness. I started running scenarios in my head, telling myself what I would do if the power were out for two hours, or two days. This is how I handle a little inconvenience, by making it worse.

As I said, after five minutes, it was all back to normal. (Except the clocks, which I had to reset. And TiVo, which took a few more minutes to find the satellite signal.

I bring this up now, two days later, because I talked with a friend tonight who's been without power since before my little outage. Her home was in the path of Hurricane Frances, and while it's still standing, she has had to deal with the primitive situation of no lights, no computer, no air conditioning, no working refrigerator, and plenty of debris for several days.

Naturally, I felt a little ashamed when I remembered my own meltdown. I'd like to think I'd handle a major crisis better than I do a minor nuisance. But I can't say that the next time it happens to me I won't pound the desk and shout again.

I'm happy to report that power is gradually being restored in Florida, and that there's every hope of things getting back to normal soon. It's going to take them a little more than resetting a few clocks to feel that way, though.