I go to the LA marketplace about twice a month and for a week every other month. Besides the fact that people are freakishly good looking and trendy here, weird things happen here. I mean weirder than everyone looking good every day. Today as I was sitting in my showroom the ground began to shake. Not unusual in California, but the odds of my being in LA confirm my suspicions.
At first I thought, "That is a big person walking down the hall!" Because the ground tends to shake with lots of movement in the hall, but the shaking got stronger until I knew it was either an elephant (and there is no service elevator equipped with enough peanuts to pacify an elephant long enough to stay cramped in an elevator for 6 floors) or it's a 5.4 magnitude earthquake.
The second guess was correct and very astute. The building began to shake with excessive gusto as the clothes swung on their hangers around me. Being a creature of habit I immediately jumped up to stand in the safety of the doorway, grabbing my computer to protect it as though it were a child.
Here's the problem. My door is all glass. Like ALL glass, and one small metal handle. Not much for protection. So there I stood, eyes wide, surrounded by glass in a shaking LA building. It reminded me of the movie, "LA story" where a group is eating dinner in an LA restaurant and everything is shaking and the only one who notices it is the visitor from England. Tables are gliding back and forth, ice sculptures are cracking, and everyone is carrying on without missing a beat except one bewildered foreigner. So today that was me. And it made me laugh. And next time I will hide under the table...
10 comments :
HAHA! Good story, glad you were safe... we even felt it down here! YIKES!!
i was in beverly hills on the top story of a building...in an interview! haha! we were standing over a set of plans on the drafting board then both just froze and looked at each other (once we realized it was more than someone in the hall, just like you!). then it kept going and going...i wasnt sure how to react. i looked out the window and saw the street signal literally swaying...like- i thought it MAY just fall. meeting each other, interviewing and surviving an earthquake together is an interesting combination. so why do you go to the marketplace? is it the one downtown? also- the glass was probably *okay* since its all up to code and is totally tempered. if it were to break, it would crackle and not shard. chances are, its also probably a 1 hour rated door able to withstand intense heat from a fire in the hall. next time, id stand under an I-beam. =)
We felt it all the way up in Santa Barbara! At least you moved, I just held onto my desk and waited for it to be over.
What. That is crazy. I hated those earthquakes. For just a split second I always felt like I was going to die. I know it was silly, but I did. I do that on airplanes also when their is bad turbulance. SCARY.
I am glad it wasn't that bad for you. Smile.
SCARY! We felt it here in Oceanside...both kids were alseep and I didn't know what to do? let them think someone put a quarter in their bed or grab them and take cover.
Holly, I'm glad you are safe! I grew up in Southern California, so I've been in my fare share of earthquakes, and I know they are scary. I wish it had been the elephant scenario, though, because, wow, an elephant shopping for clothes! Now that would have made headlines. Again, I'm glad you survived! Holly (Chennault, not Moore)
Where do you work? What are you doing for work? I guess these aren't the best questions to answer on a blog, but you always have me SOO curious!
I too felt this earthquake, but I was the freaking out Mom deciding how bad it was to whether or not wake up Brayden and yelling at Tanner to come to me "Right now!" and then trying to decide what on earth to do with ourselves. So many people say so many different things now adays about what to do I was completly confussed . . .great! Smart. So, now I am trying to prep myself for the next one (because where I live, I know there will be more!)
You look pretty in that picture! My suggestion for the next earthquake is to buy a helmet. You can put knucklehead stickers all over it so it looks appropriate...
LMFAO! Oh Holls, how perfect! I love that you ran for the glass doorway! They can train us and train us as children, but when emergencies and natural disasters occur it's still hard to think straight. When we had an earthquake in Seattle one time, I didn't even run for a door way, I went running down the stairs screaming instead. So brava!
I think you should have a sugar-glass floor with a giant god-sized mattress (come on, what's bigger than california king, I ask you!)so that your next earthquake will be an even better story to tell!
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