Ordinary things aren't ordinary

At the moment, I'm stuck in my house since the gas hot water unit is being replaced. It will take a few hours for me to be free. 

Last night, I had no choice but to wash dishes in very cold water due to the breakdown of the unit. I couldn't help but admire my grandparents since they must have always washed things in cold watter in winter. People never realize that ordinary things aren't ordinary and how much these things help them lead a comfortable life until they've lost them.

When I lived in Hong Kong more than a decade ago, sea water was supplied for toilet flushing. The water supply system would sometimes have problems. One day, the water for toilet flushing in my house didn't stop and overflowed. Although I managed to prevent it from going into other rooms, my bathroom was still flooded with water. When the water receded from the bathroom, I was really surprised to find that the bathroom was covered with sand. It was then that I realized sea water was being used for the toilets. 

When I lived in Guangzhou, China a few years ago, the electric supply in my area would occasionally be suspended for more than 8 hours in the summer. When my house had no problems with the electric supply, the supply to other districts would be suspended. At the time, this was because Guangzhou was suffering from chronic shortages of electricity. The suspensions would cause traffic turmoil. Although many people there were unwilling to obey traffic rules even under ordinary circumstances, turning off traffic lights worsened the situation. Frozen foods and foods put in the open fridge cases (it means fridge cases without doors) at shops were usually left there as they were during the suspensions, and were sold after the blackouts were over. I was wondering if the food was OK since it was humid and hot in Guangzhou during summer.

These things always made me realize that ordinary things aren't ordinary.