Cooperative Living June 2018 - 4

Viewpoint | by Richard G. Johnstone Jr., Executive Editor
Vol. 72, No. 6
ISSN 1529-4579
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
Executive Editor
BILL SHERROD
Editor
LAURA EMERY
Field Editor
JANET BAILEY
Production Manager
TOMMY CAMPBELL
Design & E-Media Coordinator
AMANDA S. CUNNINGHAM
Advertising Sales
MARY HOWELL
Communications & P.R. Coordinator
NINA JACOBS
Administrative Coordinator
To contact magazine:
9 a.m.-5 p.m. M-F
Phone: (804) 346-3344
Or at any time:
Fax: (804) 346-3448
Email: bsherrod@vmdaec.com
Web: www.co-opliving.com
Published by the VA, MD & DE Association
of Electric Cooperatives
JAMES E. HUFFMAN
Chairman
HERBERT R. PATRICK
Vice Chairman
FLETCHER B. JONES
Secretary/Treasurer
RICHARD G. JOHNSTONE JR.
President & CEO
Board of Directors: R. Wayne Browning, Belvin Williamson, Jr.,
A&N; C. Michael Sandridge, Michael J. Keyser, BARC; George N.
Goin, Gary E. Wood, Central Virginia; Robert E. Arnold, Michael
I. Wheatley, Choptank; Jeannette S. Everett, Steven A. Harmon,
Community; James E. Huffman, Shawn C. Hildebrand, CraigBotetourt;
Patricia S. Dorey, J. William Andrew, Delaware;
Fletcher B. Jones, John C. Lee, Jr., Mecklenburg; Russell G.
Brown, Greg W. White, Northern Neck; Wade C. House, Stan C.
Feuerberg, Northern Virginia; Dale McNiel, Randell W. Meyers,
Powell Valley; Herbert R. Patrick, Micheal E. Malandro, Prince
George; Linda R. Gray, Kent D. Farmer, Rappahannock; Larry C.
Howdyshell, Michael W. Hastings, Shenandoah Valley; Frank W.
Bacon, Jeffrey S. Edwards, Southside.
To advertise in Cooperative Living, contact:
Amanda Cunningham (804) 290-2184
National Advertising Representative: AMP,
611 South Congress Ave., Suite 504,
Austin, Texas 78704 * 800-626-1181
Member of AMP network of
publications, reaching more than
9 million homes and businesses.
PRESSRUN . . . . . . . . . 525,600
COOPERATIVE LIVING (USPS 473-300) is
published 10 times a year, monthly except for
combined March/April and November/ December
issues, by the Va., Md. & Del. Association of Electric
Cooperatives. POSTMASTER, address changes
should be sent to: Cooperative Living, 4201
Dominion Boulevard, Suite 101, Glen Allen, VA
23060, (804) 346-3344. Periodicals Postage paid at
Glen Allen, VA, and additional mailing offices.
Subscription: $4.99 per year for members of
subscribing co-ops; $10 per year for all others.
ADVERTISING published is accepted on the
premise that the merchandise and services offered
are accurately described and willingly sold to
customers at the advertised price. Neither this
magazine nor the electric cooperatives in Virginia,
Maryland, and Delaware endorses any products or
services advertised herein. If any readers encounter
non-compliance with these standards, they are
asked to inform the Editor.
E
eeekkk! Eeeekkk! Eeeekkk!
A groggy head stirs in the pillow's soft
valley. Eyes open slightly, slowly. Moving
on instinct, a blind hand finds and flips the
clock's alarm switch, stopping the air raid
siren announcing that 6 o'clock has arrived.
Groan. Time to rise.
The man squints as he removes an electric
razor from the charging stand while his wife
takes a shower.
A rich, warm smell wafts upstairs. Ah! He
smiles, pleased that he remembered to set the
timer on the coffeemaker last night.
The pleasure is short-lived. His wife calls
from the shower. " Did you remember to take
the clothes out of the dryer last night? " Oops.
He hustles down the stairs, grabs an armful
of clothes from the dryer, plugs in the iron
and sets up the ironing board. Next he plugs
in the fancy toaster they were given as a
house-warming present ... and counts out four
slices of bread, one for each family member.
As his right hand lowers the toaster's lever,
dropping the slices out of sight, his left pushes
the button on the plug-in intercom. In a tired
routine that hasn't worked - or amused them
- in years, he shouts, " Kids, this is the voice
of God. Wake up! "
He scrambles over to the ironing board and
presses his wife's uniform, neatly and
thoroughly, then swipes the iron across his
work shirt a couple of times. He hears a
sound. No, actually, its absence.
The shower upstairs has stopped. Uh-oh. At
this inopportune instant, the cat jumps up on
the ironing board and sharpens its claws on
the pillowy surface, while the dog whines at
his feet. " Sorry, guys, gotta run, " he says.
Hurriedly, he puts away the ironing board
and runs upstairs, hanging up his wife's uniform
at the exact instant she emerges from the
bathroom. She smiles at him. " I thought you
had forgotten, " she says. " No way! " he replies,
turning to hide the rising red glow that burned
his face whenever he exaggerated his athletic
prowess or the kids' academic honors.
The four family members then
converge on the kitchen, where TV
news voices serve as dull backdrop to
practiced family rituals. With the
precision of stage actors in a French
2
farce, the four open and close the refrigerator,
grab pieces of toast and adroitly slather them
with jelly, pack lunches, check texts and tweets,
and unplug smartphones from chargers, never
stopping to sit down.
Pausing to anoint both kids with a quick kiss
as they head to the bus stop, the man and woman
set the security system for the day, grab their
tablets and head to the garage.
They climb into separate cars. Both then push
a remote control, her quick touch sending the
garage door upward, his a second later stopping
it in mid-ascent. Both laugh. She pushes again,
opening the door on another workday.
And so it goes, all day every day. Your electric
service stays quietly in the background throughout
the morning, afternoon and evening, and all night
too, powering the alarm clock, razor, water heater,
coffeemaker, dryer, iron, toaster, intercom, TV,
refrigerator, smartphone and tablet, security system,
garage door opener ... and much, much more.
Your electric service is provided by a local
utility that you and your neighbors own.
A local utility created by the men and women in
your community three generations ago, to provide
themselves with a service that no one else would.
A local utility organized as a cooperative,
whose mission remains as important and clear
as it was way back then: to provide you
with the most reliable service possible,
at the lowest cost possible, today,
tomorrow and always. 
Just Another Electrifying Day
The electric service that we often take for granted is actually a
critical ingredient in the daily rhythms and rituals of family life.
http://www.co-opliving.com
Cooperative Living June 2018

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