Turn These Damn Lights Off!!
Philadelphia, PA
1967-1977
“Turn all these damn lights off", he would bark with complete
annoyance. “My God. I’m raising the rates tomorrow. Do you know how much it is going to cost me
now to run all this wasted electrify?”
This mandate echoed through the hallways of the house more
than once in my adolescent years. My
father was a Public Untidily Commissioner for about 10 years and every increase
that directly affected his bills was discussed with us until he was sure there
was complete understanding of the need to comply.
However, it wasn’t like he didn’t discuss other rates of
utility. Apparently, our utility bills
were cheaper than those in Illinois. Truck drivers paid more taxes in New York
than in Pennsylvania. Vermont had the purest water and the lowest tax. We were
told it was cheaper to haul goods by train then by truck. We listened to talk
about mass transportation rates and how much it costs to run the Philadelphia
bus system. Sometimes we heard about oil heat vs. steam heat. But mostly we heard about the electric
bills. And every month when I look at my
meager electric bill, I am grateful that my father trained me to turn off the
damn lights.
