Snap! Sizzle! Fire Extinguisher!

Are the choices we make in life based on free will or the concept of free will? Consider the lowly light bulb. Basically, a hollow, glass globe that when electrified turns white hot producing light. Simple enough and since its invention it has basically stayed the same. There have been some advances in durability, the color and clarity of the light, and some different shapes. However, starting in 2012, this lowly device will begin to fade and disappear only to be replaced by compact fluorescent bulbs. My free will choice is to buy the traditional bulb because my experience with CFBs has been nothing but entirely negative and soon I will only have the concept of free will choice of which brand CFB I’d like to buy.

First, I hate the color of the light these bulbs give off. The sickly, yellowish harsh lighting is ghastly. My husband and I replaced five dining room lights and three kitchen lights with CFBs only to reel in disgust when we turned them on. We decided that we’d give them a try since all the propaganda, er, information on them tells us that they are the bee’s knees for the environment. And, slowly, as time went by, we no longer mumbled in disgust when we would turn the lights on.

Second, CFBs have mercury in them. Now, when the first bulb burned out, and more on that in a bit, I dutifully took it out and replaced it with another CFB and tossed the burned-out bulb in the garbage just like you would with any other traditional bulb. Then, several weeks later, I heard that they contained mercury and should never be thrown in the regular trash. WHAT? How did society go from using a regular bulb that doesn’t contain mercury – a substance that many businesses and facilities are trying very hard to eradicate from their practices – to endorsing the next best thing in lighting that actually contains what is a banned substance in many states? AND making the decision that the public shouldn’t have the free will to purchase whichever bulb they would like, but to make them purchase CFBs simply because traditional bulbs can no longer be made and sold?

Third, CFBs catch on fire. I know this because I have had three of them catch on fire. We have been incredibly lucky in that my husband, myself, or both of us have been home and standing by the light fixture when the bulb went on its little self-destruct mission. It begins by making a snapping and buzzing sound, quickly followed by wisps of smoke that come barreling out of the ballast part of the bulb and then, the God-awful stench of toxic ingredients of whatever those things are made of. It is enough to make me retch while trying to find a pot holder so that I don’t get third degree burns while trying to save my house from burning down.

On retrospect, I’m a bit befuddled why I gave the things THREE tries before I pulled them all out and put regular bulbs back into my fixtures. My free will however, is chosen for me because I won’t be able to buy the safe, traditional bulbs within the next few years. Why? Because we are saving the planet from safe light bulbs in favor of mercury containing bulbs of rage that want nothing more than to burn my house down and I no longer have free will of choice. What if we had left either light fixture on and left for a few minutes? It happened with both of my fixtures and with different sockets so there’s no real chance that it was just one defective socket or fixture. Besides, I never had this problem with the traditional bulbs. POP! And that’s it. No fire, no smoke, no hysterics, and no screaming for the fire extinguisher.

I hate the fact that I will no longer have the free will to buy bulbs that will not burn my house down or that I can toss in the garbage without worrying that I’m poisoning the Earth. Yes, I know all of the arguments about how much coal is burned (also releasing some mercury vapor into the air) to light a traditional bulb, but I’ve never had to worry that I would find my house a burned-out shell because I left a light on. Also, isn’t the same coal being burned to now light the mercury containing bulb that would have lit a traditional bulb? Doesn’t that mean there’s even more mercury being released into the environment because I seriously doubt that Mr. and Mrs. John and Jane Doe will actually go to their local country hazardous waste dump day to get rid of the CFBs? I want to know why free will of choice of bulbs can not be market driven. Why are laws being made and passed in favor of CFBs when the buying public is perfectly capable of choosing which bulb they would like? And where will those lawmakers be when my house is ashes?

As a society, we live by rules both real and implied. Some things are chosen for us because of real concerns or safety. You don’t have the free will to yell fire in the crowded place unless, well, a CFB is burning out and it is actually on fire. You don’t have the free will to walk around punching people without suffering repercussions: Either by law enforcement or by someone retaliating and punching you back. And you certainly won’t have the free will, in the years to come, to purchase a light bulb that will only burn out and not start your house on fire. That decision has been made for us. And one last thing: As my house burns to the ground, doesn’t that release toxic and greenhouse gases too? So, now I have mercury bulbs that will be even more toxic as I lose everything I’ve worked for. Yeah, sounds about right. I guess then, I will have the free will choice of finding a builder to do it all over again.