I refuse to die at work

From 2:30 to 3:15 I was stuck with the rest of the building in the second floor tornado shelter. We were let out for a brief 3 1/2 minutes - enough time to get to our office, sit back down at our desks and be told we had to go back to the second floor.

At this point I kept thinking, I just want to drive home because I do not want to die in this building. Not because I was afraid but because dying at my place of employment just seems depressing.

Last year a tornado went through Rhode Island where one of our sister companies are located. I was on a call with *Sara* and I asked how they were. She told me when the sirens went off, she got in her car and headed home. I was horrified! She left in the middle of a tornado warning!?!? Her reply was "I don't want to die in this crappy building!" Now, a year later, I understand.

After we were let out from the second shelter herding, I was done with work and ready to go. I called Joe and he said it was barely raining by us and everything had headed into WI. I left, after some assurance to my CTO that I a)would not sue b)the storm was East of my home and c)I would be fine. You see, I've been in my share of storms while in a car...

1997
My friend Jenny and I decided to go shopping and headed to Brookfield Square. It was raining but nothing too bad. We headed to Lerner (NY&CO now) and bought some jeans and got a free t-shirt. While in Lerner, the lights flickered and went off and then came back on. We decided to checkout and head home. We got drenched running to the parking lot.

We heard there was flooding and couldn't go home the way we came so I headed to Bluemound. We were in the middle lane right headed west right across from the strip mall where Starbucks is (was??) and my car died. Completely died. So we got drenched running into Starbucks, called the cops. A little later, my car started and we moved it to the parking lot. Again (we were soaked).

Now traffic wasn't even moving, there was flooding all over and Dad and Karl were on the way to get Jenny and I home. They finally showed up Karl drove my car (it was making crazy noise) while I road with Dad. We had to go way out of our way to get home and I was so glad we got home!!

Summer of 2000
Yes, you would have thought I would have learned from prior experience but alas, no. My friend Tami and I (we were in beauty school at this time) met at Southridge to ride the shuttle to Summerfest - we were going to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers. We got in line to get into the amphitheater and no sooner did we get in then we hear tornado sirens. So into the women's bathroom we went - talk about hot and sweaty!

Who knows how long we were in there before the all clear was sounded. It was still raining but not too bad. We went to our seats (we were on the metal bleachers) and it rained some more and more and than started lightening. The show was delayed and Tami and I said let's go. We headed back to the shuttle (we did not want to be electrocuted at a Chili Pepper's concert) and the heaven's opened as we ran across the Summerfest grounds. We were drenched, and I mean every piece of clothing on us was soaked.

We got back to Southridge, told each other to call when we got to our respective homes and off we went. I called mom and dad and told them I was headed home. Again, I ran into flooding and the only thing the DJ on the radio kept saying was "Please stay home. Do not go out unless it's an emergency. Please stay off the road." We were in a tornado watch/warning (who knows almost 10 years later) and I drove home. It was awful but I made it home. Tami made it to Racine after a long drive due to the storm and I don't think either of us listened to the Chili Peppers much after that.

So this brings be back to why it didn't bother me to leave work at 3:20 when we were in a tornado warning (even though the tornado had already passed us) and oh yeah, I don't want to die at work.