Tornadoes And Target
A play-by-play of my Athens Tornado Experience
As I pulled into target with three sorority sisters, my phone buzzed. Bzzz bzzzz. I looked down into my screen's dimmed light in our otherwise pitch black car. a small banner on my locked screen read: Emergency Alert: Tornado Warning in this area til 9:15. We all exchanged nervous glances. We speed walked into the target.
A small child was crying in the five dollar section. I didn't know if I should be worried. As we walked around looking for space themed costumes for work week, we allowed ourselves to be spooked by the rain pounding on the roof of the white-girl-friendly superstore. I called my sister and told her the situation as she was at a friends house a few miles away. She sounded worried. We proceeded to shop for giant bouncy balls and NASA t-shirts. Clearly the tornado was not an immediate threat.
We then jumped back in the car and headed back to the house. To our horror, a second tornado warning was issued as we rode back. The clouds made odd patterns in the sky. Would we make it home? Yes. I hopped out of my friend Leyla's car (hugging the giant bouncy ball I bought as to dress up as a planet), ran to the door, keyed in the door code, and swooped into the bottom floor of my sorority house.
The house mom requested that all of the girls stay on the ground floor, and I was surprised to find my sisters huddled in our cozy movie room giggling at a movie. To my surprise and disgust they were watching The Kissing Booth, a tragic Netflix original. If you'd like to hear my full opinion of said movie, please refer to my movie reviews in my previous post. Eventually, the tornado warnings subsided and I ran upstairs to write this article.
In conclusion, tornado warnings are not as scary as they are made out to be. As a girl who has been through many a storm, a couple hurricanes, and countless tornado watches, I can move forward knowing that in most cases, movies and media make us think that a tornado is going to rip through the target and sweep us up along with the herd of cattle it picked up at a nearby farm and the grandma still knitting in her rocking chair like some weird Wizard of Oz crap. It is very important to take precaution when dealing with mother nature's tricks, however freaking out about it does not help us, and most of the time things turn out ok.
