THROWBACK THURSDAY: OBLIVIOUS When I drive I don’t listen to the radio, or music, or anything. I just drive and concentrate on the road. A good habit, but if there should be, let’s say, a tornado warning or something, well, I would never know. So it was many years ago on a Saturday morning in May in Clemson, South Carolina, that I drove to Walmart to buy some things. As I crossed the bridge on Lake Hartwell I drove into a heavy downpour. Beginning at the first light in Seneca everyone was creeping along, as the road was under water. I had the wipers on high, but the rain was so heavy I could barely see out. By the second light the car was being buffeted by strong winds. Cool, I thought. I like storms. What I hadn’t noticed, however, was that my car was now almost the only one on the road. Just before the light at the Walmart I emerged from the storm into the clear. It was like someone had turned a switch, and the rain just stopped. As I waited for the light to turn, it finally dawned on me that my car was now the only one on the road, as far as I could see, in any direction. Strange. I parked in the lot and went in, got my shopping cart, and then realized there was no Walmart greeter. I looked down the long row of cash registers – no employees, no customers. The store was open, the lights were on, but no people. Weird. I could think of no possible explanation. What should I do? Hmmm. I shrugged my shoulders and looked at my shopping list. Dog food. That’s in the middle, near the back. Okay. I’ll go get dog food. As I went I looked up and down the aisles – nobody. Then as I rounded a corner and turned toward the dog food I suddenly came up against a large crowd of people. They were standing there packed together, like statues, worried looks on their faces. I looked at them; they looked back at me. Just then I heard a loud click and then the static and hum of a public address system. “Attention shoppers. The tornado warning has been lifted. You may now go back to shopping.”
Posted on: Thu, 10 Apr 2014 12:12:12 +0000
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