the electric company

Evening at the Chateau de Healy.
Parents and favourite son are ensconced in the kitchen.
The Mam addresses the Dad.
"I am sick asking you to pay the electricity bill," sez she.
"I'm sick listening to you," replies the Dad.
James intervenes as peacekeeper.
"It's not like they're about to cut us off," sez he mildly.
"They cut us off before," shoots back the Mammy.
"When?" sez I.
"About forty years ago," sez the Mammy.
"No way," sez I.
"They did," sez she.
"And what was it like?" sez I.
The Mammy thinks for a moment.
"It was hellish," sez she. "I was crying. The kids were crying. The man from the electricity company didn't know what to do. He was mortified with embarassment."
The noble Heelers grins.
"Ah it wasn't really like that," sez I. "You've been reading Angela's Ashes again, haven't you?"
The Mammy shakes her head.
"It was exactly like that," she muses. "The man from the electricity company was standing there looking helpless. All you kids were standing around crying. Okay, and to be completely honest, I was pretending to cry."
"So what happened?"
"Eventually he told me: Ah don't worry Missus, I have to cut you off, but I'll only cut you off for a minute. So that's what he did. He cut us off and switched us back on again straight away."
There you have it folks.
An Irish solution to an Irish problem.
The Mammy turns to the Dad once more.
"It was forty years ago," sez she. "But I'd prefer not to have to go through it again any time soon."