A Bit of Complaint

When I lived in Qatar, the backs of the Kahramaa (the electricity company) bills said in both Arabic and English, "Electricity and water are a gift... don't waste it!" This sentiment most certainly applies to the situation in the Kanto and Tohoku regions, which are both recovering from a devastating 9.0 earthquake, a tsunami, and nuclear power plant difficulties as we speak.

I for one no doubt join millions of residents in the Kanto region, who are currently engaged in a daily planned power outage (keikakuteiden / 計画停電), in being willing and proud to serve the proverbial cause. If going without power for 3 hour periods, in a finally predictable timetable, will help us preserve our overall power supply, then in fact I am more than willing to take two shifts.

However, this article regarding the continued supply to thousands of vending machines in the Tokyo area admittedly irritated me a little bit. As a private resident (as are other residents, no doubt some of them elderly) , I am severely limiting my personal home heating and cooking for the Cause, to the point of wearing extra clothing and even wrapping a bath towel around my neck, yet these bastards (sorry for the language) continue to run their bloody vending machines 24-7.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20110318a4.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+japantimes+(The+Japan+Times%3A+All+Stories)&utm_content=Google+Reader

I ask the vending machine companies, particularly Coke-- do you really lose a lot of yen from stopping service on, say, 9 of 12 machines in a single block?