Entertainment goes from a choice to a need in a power outage during Memphis' summer heat.
If your power was out for a week, as mine was, it became very clear that the "Super Storm 2003" not only was going to devastate my neighborhood, but my pocketbook and possibly my sanity.
Besides throwing out everything in my refrigerator, I had to deal with the fact that just about everything there is to do in air conditioning costs money, and as a college student, it was wearing me down.
So I have devised a list of inexpensive ways to entertain yourself if you are without power or money.
A disclaimer -- I take no responsibilities for loss, injury or theft incurred due to the following list.
* Take a trip to the largest, most air-conditioned store you can find to buy a can of soup. I also recommend playing tag in the isles or playing with large bouncy balls and "taste testing" various produce.
* Visit your friends at their places of work. You brighten their day in a cool climate and will probably be offered discounted or free things.
* Visit a local watering hole and nurse a frosty beverage. Remember to tip for the time you are hogging a server's table.
* Chips and salsa at El Porton.
* Monopoly in the UC.
* Drive around and look at damage.
* If you have no moral scruples about gambling, a trip to Tunica can be a very air-conditioned opportunity. The key here is to not gamble away more than you are gaining from the whole adventure. Three dollars in nickels go a long way, and drinks are free, but a dollar tip is customary. The comp meals and entertainment are great, but if you are someone who can't resist the ATM, don't go.
* A riverside walk downtown coupled with a cooling reduced-price ($5) Muvico movie afterwards.
* Some apartment complexes have nice pools. If you don't live there, bring running shoes for security guards.
* You can't beat the $3 concert series going on downtown each summer weekend at Mud Island.
* Find people who own bicycles, and borrow them for a ride at Shelby Farms with a picnic lunch. Run through a sprinkler afterwards.
* Work out at the University of Memphis recreation center. There are video games there, a pool, sauna and more. You must be enrolled in summer classes, but if you are, you really should go because you paid for it with your mandatory activity fee.
This should get you thinking in the right direction. If you are one of the unlucky people who still do not have power, it may be a long haul so buckle down and be creative to make it through. For the rest of the poor college student population, keep an eye out for the free and cool.
