We Have Debris - Dear America

It was sizing up to be the perfect kind of afternoon. I’d gotten all my emails out, I’d punched my timecard, and I had a new episode of my latest television series waiting for me in my living room. Flecks of water sprinkled onto the street while I waited for my Chinese food to be delivered, and I gracefully stepped out of the way of some woman who was hurrying down the sidewalk. When the delivery girl arrived, she wasted no time in handing the food over and practically ignored me when I wished her safe travels.

“Time is money, I suppose.” I muttered to myself as I walked back to my apartment.

It was a modest place on a modest floor, with a loft and an office to type away my thoughts and the occasional film review. Of course, I had no patience for writing at the moment. I had Kung Pao Chicken to munch on and a spooky drama to engross myself in.

With my blinds already closed, I sat in for an enjoyable viewing. The show was somewhat scary, set in a cold part of the American West. It was cloudy and dreary in the background, which perfectly matched the atmosphere of the dour characters onscreen. My headphones perfectly captured the forbidden whisperings of the monster chasing the protagonist, and even though it wasn’t raining in any of the scenes, I could hear thunder off in the distance.

A new scene opened up featuring an old man at a table in a dark room. He stared at the camera for a moment, and then the screen cut to black. It was an abrupt flourish of the director to do this, and as the black screen lingered, I could hear the storm continuing.

After a few more seconds, the screen remained quiet, and I became perplexed. I looked around and saw that my power had apparently gone out! As I took off my headphones, I realized the storm that had been thundering throughout the show, had actually been raging just beyond my walls! Rain slapped against the small window above my balcony door, and I slowly reached for the blinds.

To sum up the state of things in one word, it was chaos. A deluge of rain poured over my city, and through the rain I could see something I’d never seen before. A swirling mass of wind, sticks, and leaves was just outside my window. I thought of a scene from a cheesy 90’s film. “We have debris!” I recalled, as I stood there stunned with what was before me.

“That’s a goddamn tornado!” I surmised.

I suppose those with cooler heads would’ve run somewhere, but all I could help to do was tepidly back up behind my chair. I stared in dumb-founded silence in the dark as pandemonium unleashed itself less than ten feet away. Off in the distance, I could see the headlights of stranded cars outside stuck on the road. I wondered how the drivers must’ve felt in their small metal cans with wheels.

Some time passed before the wind stopped howling, and the downpour turned into a light rain. Power was still out, but I was thankful I hadn’t gotten hurt. Sirens blared outside and flashing lights dotted the horizon though. I guess I was lucky.

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Looking back, I feel as though we occasionally get so caught up in our own thing that we don’t realize what’s going on just beyond our front door (or in this case: our back window). Ignorance can certainly be bliss, but outright complacency can bear a heavy cost. Next time, I’ll keep the blinds open.

----------------------------------------------------References--------------------------------------------------

(1) Barnett, E. (2021, September 1). Hurricane Ida aftermath image. CBS News. Retrieved from: https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/topstories/ida-lashes-northeast-with-tornadoes-and-severe-flooding/ar-AANZPCe?ocid=msedgntp.