Did you feel it?
I’m guessing this is a question you’ve heard over the last week. If you’re from around here, you definitely felt it.
I’m talking about the recent 5.2 magnitude earthquake we all experienced on April 14. I felt it. The thing is, I’m not sure I had the proper response for it.
I’ve lived in Southern California my entire life. I’ve felt earthquakes big and small. But I don’t think I’ve ever felt “THE BIG ONE.”
Anyone who has lived here long enough knows what THE BIG ONE is. You’ve heard it all your life. I certainly have. I’m talking about how scientists always remind us that Southern California is due for a really significant earthquake due to our proximity to the San Andreas fault.
Don’t get me wrong. I believe the scientists. We’re in an earthquake zone and it’s just a matter of time. I appreciate the heads up on all of this.
But I’ve lived here my entire life. As a people, Asians are used to having earthquakes throughout Asia. It’s pretty routine in Taiwan, Japan and China. How my family chose the one area in the U.S. that also has earthquakes seems kind of ironic.
How am I supposed to live my life knowing that THE BIG ONE could happen any moment? How long can we wait on pins and needles? Add in the wildfire threats we face every year and it’s a wonder we can get anything done.
The answer is, we can’t live that way. You prepare the best you can, and just go with the flow. Or in this case, “take a break from the quake.”
That’s just how I roll. But I’ve been around long enough that maybe I shouldn’t be quite as calm as I tend to be when we do have an earthquake.
Years ago, I walked into the house after a long day at work, and out of pure exhaustion, I plopped down in an easy chair. Right at that moment, the whole house started shaking back and forth and you heard a big rumble throughout the house. What was my response? Run for cover? No.
I got up, and flopped back down onto the recliner to see if I could do it again.
On another occasion, I was driving around and stopped at a light, when suddenly the car started rocking from side to side, and for several seconds the light posts started swaying back and forth. I looked in the back seat to make sure the kids were OK. My first reaction after that was to turn down the music and wonder how loud I had the music on and whether that would cause this kind of reaction.
Apparently, I still haven’t changed my tune.
For the past couple of weeks, I’ve had an issue with getting online access to a bank . I just haven’t been able to fix the problem despite calling the bank repeatedly, getting put on hold, and them apologizing to me repeatedly and asking me to be patient. It’s been about two weeks now. It’s been a very frustrating experience.
Then, I get a call and the representative tells me they’ve fixed the problem, apologizes again, and asks if they can go through everything to make sure that the problem is solved on my end.
Right at that moment, the earthquake hits.
My lovely wife Maya runs over to my desk, and says, “Get up! Get under the table! We’re having an earthquake!!!”.
My response?
“I’ll be right there! I just need to make sure they’ve got my and right!”
I may be doomed.
