Lessons Learned
.

So, if you're going out to buy coffee creamer before the big storm hits; and you turn on the radio to hear that there is a TORNADO WARNING; and the DJ keeps repeating there is a TORNADO WARNING, not a tornado watch; and there are multiple tornadoes on Doppler radar... Do not blithely continue toward your shopping destination. And above all, do not call your husband on your cell phone to say, "This is so cool! The sky is green! Really green, like bluegrass!

I'm just sayin'.

Because I did that. And when I got to the QT at the corner of Loughborough and Gravois, their registers were down.
This happens. Usually the register comes back online in a minute or two, so I grab my creamer and 2 different kinds of Pepsi and get in line.

Then the tornado sirens went off.

A third of the customers set down their stuff and ran out of the store. "Good," I thought, "less waiting for me." I stood in line while the manager on duty and a co-worker had a quiet conversation about the unworking registers. I glanced casually around, picking the best place in the store to hunker down if debris started flying around outside.
The door would open as if people were pushing their way in, but no one was there. It was the wind.

I wondered if I was about to live through something interesting.

I pulled out my cell phone to tell my hubby that I was safe, that I had chosen a shelter, and that I would be home after the worst had passed. The phone was fully charged, and I had a great signal. But I couldn't get through. All lines were busy.
I tried again. And a third time. Then I gave up.

The sirens wound down and I had a pair of thoughts run through my head. The sodas in my arms would get warm if I had to wait out a tornado, and it would be easier to herd the crowd at the register if my arms were empty.

(In hindsight, I have no idea why I thought it was my responsibility to keep these strangers safe. Nor do I know why I thought I had the power to do so. But at the time, my concern was getting rid of the drinks and being ready to take over and direct these people to safety.)

So I walked to the dairy cooler, wondering casually if I had enough time. There was an employee stocking the beer cooler as if tornado sirens hadn't been screaming at the sky mere seconds before. Weird.

I put away my creamer, then returned the sodas to their respective coolers, and headed back toward the register. Nothing to do now but wait...

Or not.

The manager on duty decided that the registers were not coming back online, and I think the crowd frightened her a bit because she declared, "Ok! I need everyone out of my store!"

As if it were the signal they were waiting for, everyone placed their items on the counter and left the store. I stood there with my mouth hanging open as people obediently went out into the storm and possible tornado. I couldn't believe she was sending her customers into potential danger.

I was outraged. I couldn't help myself. I declared in utter disbelief:
"I can't believe there's nowhere in this store to take shelter."
I clamped my mouth shut over the second part: "What is wrong with you?"

I tried the cell phone again in the truck. No dice.
So I drove to Hollywood Video and bought some soda for my family, then went home.

I opened the back door, declared "I'm safe!" and went straight into the basement where I found my family watching the weather. Lo and behold, there on the radar was a rotating tornadic cell. Just east of our home. It was one of 7 or 8 cells on the screen.
When those sirens were going off, there really was a tornado rotation over my head. It just never touched down.

Now, I have to throw in an interesting thing about my city news people. When tornadoes hit, the weather guys rush out to be right at the scene of disaster. And after the storm began to fall apart, reports of the destruction started coming in.

According to one meteorologist, some neighborhood had put their trash out before the storm hit. It wasn't a trailer park, but Mother Nature couldn't resist. Yes, a little baby tornado touched down and ripped open bags of trash all down the street. *giggle*