The weather here in the northeast has been rather chilly as of late. Thursday was particularly bad, with wind chill bringing things to negative digits. I headed to one of the local grocery stores to get a few things for my boss. After getting out of my car, I started hearing what sounded like an alarm buzzer. I figured it was a fire alarm, and hoped it wasn't from the store I was about to enter.
Sure enough, it was.
As I approached the entrance, I spotted people streaming out the exit door, with flashing lights reflecting off of them. Wondering just how long a delay I was in for, I followed the employees into the side parking lot, where they were gathered for a head-count. I asked some of them what had happened, and was told that a pipe or pipes had burst over the breakroom.
The fire department showed up in short order, and headed for the sprinkler room to stop the deluge. Some of the employees got into cars to warm up, though most of them just stood outside in whatever clothes they had been able to grab on their way out (some of which were wet, of course). One of the male employees admitted to wearing a woman's coat; any port in a storm, methinks...
After 10-15 minutes of waiting outside, I got in my car and got the heater going to warm my toes. Not long afterwards, I saw people heading towards the store, and sure enough, they were letting people back inside. I followed them, got what I needed (which took a round-about path through the store due to several aisles being blocked off due to the flooding). The puddle extended out of the hallway which leads to the breakroom.
When I was ready to check out, hardly any of the registers were open (understandable), including none of the express lanes, so I used one of the self-checkouts. While I was scanning my items, a manager moved a wheeled cart which had been placed between the SCO I was using, and the one in front of it. As I gathered my bagged items, the manager pointed to a substantial puddle of water which had formed where the wheeled cart had once been. Said SCOs were separated from the breakroom area by at least two walls, so it must've been quite the leak. Makes me think they perhaps shouldn't have opened the store back up that quickly...
-Adam
Sure enough, it was.
As I approached the entrance, I spotted people streaming out the exit door, with flashing lights reflecting off of them. Wondering just how long a delay I was in for, I followed the employees into the side parking lot, where they were gathered for a head-count. I asked some of them what had happened, and was told that a pipe or pipes had burst over the breakroom.
The fire department showed up in short order, and headed for the sprinkler room to stop the deluge. Some of the employees got into cars to warm up, though most of them just stood outside in whatever clothes they had been able to grab on their way out (some of which were wet, of course). One of the male employees admitted to wearing a woman's coat; any port in a storm, methinks...
After 10-15 minutes of waiting outside, I got in my car and got the heater going to warm my toes. Not long afterwards, I saw people heading towards the store, and sure enough, they were letting people back inside. I followed them, got what I needed (which took a round-about path through the store due to several aisles being blocked off due to the flooding). The puddle extended out of the hallway which leads to the breakroom.
When I was ready to check out, hardly any of the registers were open (understandable), including none of the express lanes, so I used one of the self-checkouts. While I was scanning my items, a manager moved a wheeled cart which had been placed between the SCO I was using, and the one in front of it. As I gathered my bagged items, the manager pointed to a substantial puddle of water which had formed where the wheeled cart had once been. Said SCOs were separated from the breakroom area by at least two walls, so it must've been quite the leak. Makes me think they perhaps shouldn't have opened the store back up that quickly...
-Adam
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