I got electrocuted today.

I’m able to write this post so I’m not dead yet.

OK, maybe electrocuted is too severe a term. But it certainly feels like an electrocution…

I’ve gotten electric shocks before. For example, my grandmother’s house in Penang is really old, so the wiring is pretty ancient too. I once touched a light switch with a wet hand, and experienced a nasty shock. But fortunately the numb feeling was only temporary.

And who hasn’t experienced shocks caused by wiring that is not grounded properly, for example on laptops or escalators? And there is the occasional shock due to built-up charge on a very hot and dry day.

Today’s experience was a really nasty one though. I was trying to switch on my mother’s computer which I don’t use often because my own laptop has higher specs; but I wanted to use it because her flatbed scanner was connected to it. I couldn’t use mine because mine is faulty.

So I switched on the main switch and the auxiliary switch but the computer still wouldn’t switch on. Let me briefly explain the wiring. Because the electric socket is quite far from the PC, my father rigged up a long wire connection that stretched from the socket to an extension socket, to which the computer and scanner were connected. I thought there might be something wrong with the wire connection, so with the switches on, I grabbed the intermediate wire connection with my bare hand.

It’s very hard for me to describe what I went through the moment I touched it. Have you seen the DiGi ad they show in the cineplexes where the yellow DiGi man vibrates because the phone is vibrating? It feels like that, only 10 times worse. All I can say is that thank god I had the presence of mind to use my other hand to yank the wires from my right hand, because my right hand was completely incapable of letting go.

I sat for a few minutes, and upon recovering, I checked the wire connection. It looks deceptively covered, but upon looking closer, I saw where the live wires were.

I don’t know if I’ve suffered any permanent damage, but I feel fine except for my right hand where two blisters are forming at the point of contact. However I’m checking the soles of my bare feet at regular intervals. If they turn black, it means my insides are fried, and it’s a permanent goodnight then.

Needless to say, I switched everything off and disconnected the scanner to use with my own laptop instead.

It’s true that you cannot be too careful with electricity…

The more people I meet, the more I find to dislike about human nature. There are so many people out there who have no work ethics; people who take credit for others’ work; people who make false and empty promises; people who are ruthless and will bulldoze anyone in their way just to get what they want; people who are irresponsible and live only for themselves. How many people out there are really sincere and genuine? How many people out there are really ethical and responsible and willing to work towards the greater good of the community?

Hell, I’m not perfect either. I’m no Mother Teresa. I’ve got my demon on my left shoulder whispering sweet nothings into my ear to drown out the angel on my right shoulder chiding me about the right thing to do. But I don’t listen to the former – not all the time anyway. I certainly don’t try to ruin other people or steal ideas and claim them as mine.

What’s worse is that the perception of success is a very superficial one. It is normally based on the material gains one has, which brings out the unscrupulous nature in people.

Our world may be more modern and educated, but yet we are less human than we were before.