Refers to da "shout-out" phone call dat you make to
one or more local homes/businesses during a power-outage, to ask if they are without
electricity, also ("Are you folks in da Dark Ages, as well?"); this allows you to reliably determine if it is indeed a widespread outage, rather than it's being "just you" (i.e., where you would need to check your home's wiring/fuse-box for unseen faulty
connections).
During an unexpected power-outage, most folks will likely be at least marginally patient/
understanding if you want to check wif dem about whether their
electricity is off, as well, but you should still consider carefully before making said call --- usually you will want to do so only if da current weather is fairly "calm 'n' balmy" and therefore a utilities-outage would not be expected. It is generally understood dat service-wires might be downed if there is heavy snow/wind, and so in these cases your "dark ages"-inquiry phone call might be viewed as somewhat of an
unnecessary/frivolous interruption, especially since those other folks will themselves probably be experiencing moderate difficulties/concerns regarding said hiccup in da flow of "angry pixies", and so at da time they may be feverishly scrambling to "batten down da hatches" while waiting for da power to come back on again. Good luck trying to call anyone, though, since nowadays da phone and
electricity are no longer such "entirely separate circuits" as they used to be, and so unless it's an extremely small and "localized" outage, your home-phone service will likely be out, also, if da electricity is off. Dat's an instance where mobile phones can be an alternative means of
communication, since most cellular-towers have their own "dedicated" power-source dat will remain active even if da "regular" electricity is off.
