Everybody got to leave work early yesterday (Tuesday the 24th) due to the dangerous storms, one of which was rapidly approaching Guthrie (just a dozen or so miles from where I've been doing some temp work). Since the storms were forming behind me, I figured that as I drove back toward Stillwater, I'd pop by Food Pyramid, where I would pick up some prescriptions and a few groceries.
Having lived in Oklahoma most of my life, I'm used to the kind of stormy weather that we get from time to time. Tuesday's storms were bad, but I knew that I had time to get to the store and home again before anything hit. I drove a little faster, though, as I listened to the radio for descriptions of the various storms. This was really gonna be nasty, I thought.
I got to the store, called home to see what we needed as far as groceries were concerned and then walked back toward the pharmacy. Even though we'd just recently transferred our pharmacy needs, they already know me. (NOTE: being pleasant often pays off). As I approached, one of the pharmacists started shaking her head a little.
"We're trying to fill them, but after your scrips were called in, we got inundated with calls from panicky people. It might take up to an hour," she said.
"No problemo," I replied. "It's looking pretty nasty out there, but I think it won't hit for at least an hour."
I could have killed time at the in-store Starbucks, but since there was some frozen food in my cart, I figured I'd finish shopping and come back later if the storm didn't hit by the time I got home.
So off I went, getting the groceries, chatting with the cashiers, and exuding calmness while some folks had started coming in to stock up on typical storm prep stuff (cases of water, extra batteries, etc.).
I paid for my groceries, loaded the car, and headed toward home which, as luck would have it, was farther out of the way of the closest storm's path. I got home and brought the stuff in. The sky was getting darker, and it had started sprinkling. I still had time to go pick up the meds and get back home again if I took the right shortcuts!
My youngest said, "Dad, can I come with you?"
"Sure thing, dude! Let's go before it gets really nasty out there."
And I drove back into town, although this time I was heading toward the storm. When we got there, the rain started coming down steadily. We went back to the pharmacy and they had everything ready, so I paid for the medicine (actually several prescriptions - man, we get sick a lot!) and grabbed a gallon of distilled water that I forgot to get the last trip. As I got to the front of the store, my kid's nose started twitching and he felt one of the freshly baked loaves of bread.
Seeing the wistful look in his eyes, I said, "Go ahead a grab a loaf, Ty. No, make that two loaves. This should go great with the chili tonight."
I started doing the self-checkout thing, and the cashier who rang me up before saw me and said, "Wow! You really did come back before the storm hit."
"Yep," I said. "I kinda like driving around in stormy weather."
I scanned the bread, and Tyler had zipped off somewhere. Nutty kid, I thought.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed, as he popped open one of those small, but expandable umbrellas. He laughed and said, "Did you know how big these things open up to?"
As I scanned the water, I said, "Fold that back up, funny man. Do we have to put on a show everywhere we go?"
"Hey, I'm your kid - you taught me well."
During this conversation, I'd put the prescriptions down in the bagging area. Now the register was chattering at me.
"Unknown item in bagging area. Please remove and scan again."
Arrgh! I put the bag back out of the way and finished my transaction. Meanwhile, Tyler was losing his battle with the umbrella. Not only was it collapsible, it also had a zippered pouch that it needed to go back into.
I grabbed the groceries and walked over to my son.
"You do realize it's raining pretty heavily right now, right? Get that umbrella put away before they kick us out of here." I heard a few chuckles from the store employees.
After a few more struggles, I took it and said, "Okay, let's pretend this is a demo model and leave it like it is."
The store personnel were (as usual) grinning at our silliness.
We walked quickly out of the store and to the car because by now the sky was nearly black and the rain and wind were picking up their tempo. Just as we left the parking lot, I rolled down my window.
"Dude! They just started the tornado sirens. Nervous?"
"Do I have a choice?" he replied.
Handing him my phone (yeah, I'm one of those types who doesn't chat on the phone while driving), I said, "Call home. There aren't any sirens anywhere near us, so let them know the tornado sirens are going off. Have your sister start filling water bottles, in case we lose power. We can't get any water if the well pump goes down."
He did what I told him, and the drive home was uneventful, although it was really starting to pour down as we pulled up to the house.
I reached into the back seat and grabbed the water, the bread and the...uhhh...ARGHHHHH! I'd left the prescriptions at the store!
No need to panic, I thought. There weren't many people there when we left, and maybe somebody found the sack and turned it in.
Phone book? Yes, we have one. Probably several. But I couldn't find a single one. One of the downsides of having portable phone, at least in our family, is that they are so darn portable! And if you need to go into another room to make a phone call, you can carry the phone book with you. I don't know about you, but our phone books seem to like to play hide and seek.
Okay, I can deal with this, I thought. I'll just get online and pull up the store info from their website.
By now, it was raining so hard that we couldn't see the houses across the street. And the thunder and lightning were adding to the chaos. Even though we'd lost any kind of television reception, at least the phone and DSL were still working.
Just as I pulled up the Food Pyramid website and started looking for the phone number, we had a power flicker. Not enough to lose all our electric, but enough to turn off the computer.
ARGGGHHH!
I got to the store, called home to see what we needed as far as groceries were concerned and then walked back toward the pharmacy. Even though we'd just recently transferred our pharmacy needs, they already know me. (NOTE: being pleasant often pays off). As I approached, one of the pharmacists started shaking her head a little.
"We're trying to fill them, but after your scrips were called in, we got inundated with calls from panicky people. It might take up to an hour," she said.
"No problemo," I replied. "It's looking pretty nasty out there, but I think it won't hit for at least an hour."
I could have killed time at the in-store Starbucks, but since there was some frozen food in my cart, I figured I'd finish shopping and come back later if the storm didn't hit by the time I got home.
So off I went, getting the groceries, chatting with the cashiers, and exuding calmness while some folks had started coming in to stock up on typical storm prep stuff (cases of water, extra batteries, etc.).
I paid for my groceries, loaded the car, and headed toward home which, as luck would have it, was farther out of the way of the closest storm's path. I got home and brought the stuff in. The sky was getting darker, and it had started sprinkling. I still had time to go pick up the meds and get back home again if I took the right shortcuts!
My youngest said, "Dad, can I come with you?"
"Sure thing, dude! Let's go before it gets really nasty out there."
And I drove back into town, although this time I was heading toward the storm. When we got there, the rain started coming down steadily. We went back to the pharmacy and they had everything ready, so I paid for the medicine (actually several prescriptions - man, we get sick a lot!) and grabbed a gallon of distilled water that I forgot to get the last trip. As I got to the front of the store, my kid's nose started twitching and he felt one of the freshly baked loaves of bread.
Seeing the wistful look in his eyes, I said, "Go ahead a grab a loaf, Ty. No, make that two loaves. This should go great with the chili tonight."
I started doing the self-checkout thing, and the cashier who rang me up before saw me and said, "Wow! You really did come back before the storm hit."
"Yep," I said. "I kinda like driving around in stormy weather."
I scanned the bread, and Tyler had zipped off somewhere. Nutty kid, I thought.
"Whoa!" he exclaimed, as he popped open one of those small, but expandable umbrellas. He laughed and said, "Did you know how big these things open up to?"
As I scanned the water, I said, "Fold that back up, funny man. Do we have to put on a show everywhere we go?"
"Hey, I'm your kid - you taught me well."
During this conversation, I'd put the prescriptions down in the bagging area. Now the register was chattering at me.
"Unknown item in bagging area. Please remove and scan again."
Arrgh! I put the bag back out of the way and finished my transaction. Meanwhile, Tyler was losing his battle with the umbrella. Not only was it collapsible, it also had a zippered pouch that it needed to go back into.
I grabbed the groceries and walked over to my son.
"You do realize it's raining pretty heavily right now, right? Get that umbrella put away before they kick us out of here." I heard a few chuckles from the store employees.
After a few more struggles, I took it and said, "Okay, let's pretend this is a demo model and leave it like it is."
The store personnel were (as usual) grinning at our silliness.
We walked quickly out of the store and to the car because by now the sky was nearly black and the rain and wind were picking up their tempo. Just as we left the parking lot, I rolled down my window.
"Dude! They just started the tornado sirens. Nervous?"
"Do I have a choice?" he replied.
Handing him my phone (yeah, I'm one of those types who doesn't chat on the phone while driving), I said, "Call home. There aren't any sirens anywhere near us, so let them know the tornado sirens are going off. Have your sister start filling water bottles, in case we lose power. We can't get any water if the well pump goes down."
He did what I told him, and the drive home was uneventful, although it was really starting to pour down as we pulled up to the house.
I reached into the back seat and grabbed the water, the bread and the...uhhh...ARGHHHHH! I'd left the prescriptions at the store!
No need to panic, I thought. There weren't many people there when we left, and maybe somebody found the sack and turned it in.
Phone book? Yes, we have one. Probably several. But I couldn't find a single one. One of the downsides of having portable phone, at least in our family, is that they are so darn portable! And if you need to go into another room to make a phone call, you can carry the phone book with you. I don't know about you, but our phone books seem to like to play hide and seek.
Okay, I can deal with this, I thought. I'll just get online and pull up the store info from their website.
By now, it was raining so hard that we couldn't see the houses across the street. And the thunder and lightning were adding to the chaos. Even though we'd lost any kind of television reception, at least the phone and DSL were still working.
Just as I pulled up the Food Pyramid website and started looking for the phone number, we had a power flicker. Not enough to lose all our electric, but enough to turn off the computer.
ARGGGHHH!
Once I was back online, I found the store's phone number and called, hoping that they were okay, since that was the part of town where the storm was heading.
"Food Pyramid, how can I help you?" came the voice on the other end.
"I...well...I'm pretty sure I left some meds there that I'd already paid for," I said.
The Food Pyramid guy said, "Do you know where you left them? I could go look."
"Yep," I replied, "I was at the self-checkout when my son popped open an umbrella...."
"Oh yeah, I remember you," he said. "I'll go look to see if anybody found them."
As I waited, I looked at Tyler with a twinkle in my eye and said, "I blame you for this!"
"Hey, I'm your kid. Would you expect anything less?"
"Food Pyramid, how can I help you?" came the voice on the other end.
"I...well...I'm pretty sure I left some meds there that I'd already paid for," I said.
The Food Pyramid guy said, "Do you know where you left them? I could go look."
"Yep," I replied, "I was at the self-checkout when my son popped open an umbrella...."
"Oh yeah, I remember you," he said. "I'll go look to see if anybody found them."
As I waited, I looked at Tyler with a twinkle in my eye and said, "I blame you for this!"
"Hey, I'm your kid. Would you expect anything less?"
Eventually, the guy came back to the phone and apologized for the delay. He had to help with a rush of customers who had come in to stock up. But he assured me that my stuff had been found.
"Can you hold it until tomorrow?" I asked. "I really don't think I want to get out in this weather."
"I'd be a bad employee if I told you that you had to come back and get it in this weather. What's your name? We'll hold it for you and you can pick it up next time you're in."
I told him and the rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. I am so grateful that we didn't get any damage in our neighborhood from the storm. And I'm also grateful for the awesome employees of our local Food Pyramid.
.
"Can you hold it until tomorrow?" I asked. "I really don't think I want to get out in this weather."
"I'd be a bad employee if I told you that you had to come back and get it in this weather. What's your name? We'll hold it for you and you can pick it up next time you're in."
I told him and the rest of the evening was pretty uneventful. I am so grateful that we didn't get any damage in our neighborhood from the storm. And I'm also grateful for the awesome employees of our local Food Pyramid.
.
.
.
I picked up the meds after work today. The employees who were working there yesterday chuckled a little when I walked into the store. I didn't really have to identify myself.
I am mostly grateful for my sense of humor and being able to share it. People might not remember what you do for them, but they will remember you for how you make them feel.
I am mostly grateful for my sense of humor and being able to share it. People might not remember what you do for them, but they will remember you for how you make them feel.
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