Blame The Power Companies — Not The Lineworkers

The majority of Ocean County residents woke up with power on Sunday morning; however, there are still thousands without power in New Jersey. This is causing emotions to boil over, which it should, but residents are getting mad at the wrong people.

Many times these lineworkers are up at the crack of dawn and don't go home until dusk. This is not only a long day but coupled with logging on to social media and seeing disparaging posts, and this could be mentally draining.

Many of the times, they're linemen, and linewomen are going to their own homes without power. Many of them are Jersey Shore residents, and they deserve to be treated with respect.

Last week, I wrote an article about New Jersey not being prepared for another Superstorm Sandy, something that I wholeheartedly agree with. In that, I mentioned that our lineworkers are amazing and that we should be blaming the companies that they work for rather than the lineworkers themselves.

After Superstorm Sandy, there was so much talk about New Jersey upgrading its infrastructure — and unfortunately, that's all it was… talk. We learned that our cell towers and electricity grid could not withstand a significant storm, let alone another Sandy.

I've said it before, and I will repeat it — we are not ready, and it's not the fault of the workers — it's the fault of greed.

We are the most technologically advanced nation in the world, and you are telling me it takes weeks after a storm (that lasted only an hour in some spots) to get the power back on during the hottest time of the year?

God bless our lineworkers. They deserve more praise.