Those Scary Reactions
16 June 2009
I’ve lived in Kansas about half my life now, but I’d never seen a tornado until our vacation last week. (And this is why I always chuckled when we lived in Florida and people said they’d never live in Kansas City because of the tornados.) Even thought I’d never seen one, I’ve watched Twister more times than I’ll publicly admit, plus a handful of Stormchasers episodes. So right outside of Denver when Ben pointed ahead and said, “What does that look like to you?” I had no problems identifying it as, “A funnel cloud.” A funnel cloud we were headed right for.
These are life-moments I dread. And I’m not talking specifically about scary tornados looming ahead, I mean those moments where you’re forced to react to something on the fly and you just hope you make the right decision. It doesn’t have to be something bad. It can be something good too, like meeting a celebrity. Something I’ve done and would really rather not repeat. Because I’d rather not once again endure the humiliation of calling a celebrity—someone whose show I watch and whose recipes I use—by the wrong name. Oy.
For the most part I can fake being confident and “together.” It gets a little harder when you’re driving in a strange city on a crazy expensive toll road with virtually no exits, and your 18-month-old daughter is singing to herself in the backseat, blissfully unaware that you’re headed toward something very dangerous at 75-miles-per-hour. We made the snap decision to hit the gas and race the next few miles to our exit, which would take us in the opposite direction of the storm. Fortunately, it turned out to be an okay decision. Other decisions I’ve made—like opening my mouth when a famous person is walking by—have not turned out so well.
I wish there was some kind of seminar to teach you how to react better. Until I find one, I suppose I should just keep my mouth shut and let Ben do all the driving on vacation.
Hope everyone’s having a great day!
I don’t think you could possibly have watched Twister more than me. And I’m chuckling about calling a celebrity by the wrong name. I don’t think I’ve ever actually met one, but I tell myself I’d be totally cool;-)
Posted by Roseanna on 17 June 2009