I was meant to work the evening shift.
I was thinking about it for weeks. This was the first time, as a new employee, that I would be left alone to do whatever I may. So I prepared. I bought an exercise ball. I had been wanting one for a month now but NOW it had imperitive. I visualized bouncing up and down happily at my desk. And once everyone went home but me, I would be doing pushups between calls, lunging and becoming a fit customer service representative. I wanted to answer support calls while lying on my back staring up at the ceiling. Things I would not dream of doing during the daytime, with eyes all around not to mention flourescent lights.
So it came and went swimmingly, or shall I say bouncingly, that with 30 minutes left on my shift... the sun going down and it becoming cold outside,
that I wanted
to go
home.
I thought, maybe I can leave early. There are no calls coming in. Who would notice?
And then I heard it. Thunder.
A phone call.
Or was it the phone call first?
I don't remember. All I know is that for the next 45 minutes it would be both.
A long phone call and a growing thunderstorm.
And then it rang. The tornado siren.
Here's the thing. I'm not afraid of rats, spiders, child molesters, or evil dragons. I have two fears though: clowns, and tornados. My dad used to stand on the deck, smoking his cig and watching the storm come in (after watching a fresh episode of Twister no less). And me figuring out where the safest place in the basement is. And to this day I have dreams about hiding from tornados.
So when my boss IM'ed me saying
"they're coming"
and I asked "who?"
and he said
"the tornados"
my mind went into flight mode.
And yet I was *still on the phone with a customer.*
I mentioned to them that sirens were going off, and they were nice. But their problem was not fixed yet, and I was going to help them get their problem fixed, by golly I was.
But as the minutes passed and the storm grew louder, and I thought about my baby, crying and freaking out (he tends to do what I do, so if I'm freaking out, guess what daddy has to deal with?), and how I would have to drive in this storm, if I could ever get off the phone, and then I realized
I didn't find out how to lock up the building.
Oh shit.
So now, I am in flight mode while my brain is trying to shove a logic cog into the geartrain.
Um, doesn't work. I just cannot figure out how to lock a simple door. So I go home...
and after an hour of driving (double my usual commute) I am finally home to a baby with red bags under his eyes because he would not go to sleep until he had his mama home.
And home I was.
I was meant to work the evening shift on Monday. I asked the boss if I could switch. And to please never make me do evenings unless I absolutely have to.
