COVINGTON, Ga. - Focused on restoring power to the residents of the City of Covington, a lineman pulled into the Taco Bell Wednesday evening for a quick bite to eat when he was met with a surprise encounter in the parking lot.

Covington City Manager Leigh Anne Knight said the lineman was returning to his truck with his food when an unknown female approached him. That female threw a soft drink in this lineman’s face and told him “he shouldn’t be eating because her power was still out,” Knight said.

“Our society has become so self-centered and demanding that we can't see anything but what we want and think we deserve,” Knight said in a Facebook post on her personal Facebook page. “I realize everyone wants their power back on because as long as most of us have been alive we have not had to worry about reading by candlelight or building a fire to cook on or stay warm by, but does that mean we can't live without it for a few days?

“Is it an inconvenience? Why yes. Does it make it harder to do the normal everyday task? Again yes. But can we actually survive for a few days. I am sure we can.

“That is part of our problem. We have things too easy in most cases and become so dependent on things we often forget that things can change in just a moment. We also forget that the things we need and use on a daily basis don't just float down from above. Someone has to get up every day, even in a storm, go to work and make sure that what you need to make it through the day is available for you.

“So, again I ask what did you really hope to accomplish with your random act of meanness? That person as spent the last three days working more than 16 hours a day (keep in mind there is only 24 in a day, that only leaves eight which is used to drive to and from work and sleep) to do his best to reconnect power to the over 2,000 customers that have been without power.

“He more than likely hasn't seen his children in those three days and probably only briefly his wife. While you feel slighted and that you deserve to have everything immediately, he has been willingly showing up for long hours, doing difficult work and trying to be of service to you and the community.

“I am truly appalled at how anyone can do such an act of meanness. You can't see others for human beings and the work they do because you are so self-consumed!”

The lineman, who’s worked for the City of Covington for more than 10 years, did not know the female and the city reportedly has no way of determining who she was.

Covington Police Department (CPD) Chief Stacey Cotton said CPD was unable to obtain video of the incident so there is no ongoing investigation. 

“It broke my heart,” Knight said.

---

The Covington News did not ask for the name of the lineman, nor will it release that information, to protect his privacy.