It's just a storm, don't crap your pants.

[AmericanZero8503]

Someone posted about the annoying customers that come in before a Hurricane.

In the mid-west we get the people who come in post-thunderstorm. Our area was hit by a tornado back in 2005. So now anytime that the sirens go off everyone acts like the world is about to come to an end.

Then when the storm moves away and its clear out again, everyone goes to the store to panic buy items. Today it was a double whammy because the power went out in the surrounding neighborhoods. So we get the people who come in to suck up our air. Heaven forbid they might actually have to sweat it out! So they waltz around and annoy the hell out of us employees with questions about products they aren't going to buy. They just 'wanted to know'.

Then I get these calls:

Me: Hello (store name) can I help you?
SC: PAGE MY HUSBAND...Steve Sanders.

*I page and no one comes up*

Me: No one answered that page.

SC: WELL DO YOU HAVE POWER.

Me: Well i was able to page him over the sound system...so yes.

SC: Well we don't over here....(and proceeds to go through a 50 minute lecture of how she doesn't have power and I tell her a hundred times...we just accept electric payments here, we don't have any control where electricity is off and on)

I guess they assume we're in charge of all the power in the city .

The weather forecasters don't help. Each station has its only doppler and feels the urge to cover the storm until it is completely out of the area. Usually taking about two hours. If I didn't have cable I would be pissed, but I have that and TiVo. Its gotten so bad since the 2005 Tornado that a local university professor has labeled it 'storm porn'.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I HAVE THE POWEEERRRRR!!!!!

Sorry. Couldn't help it.

[Cyphr]

storm porn... is it bad that i can imagine there being a market for the stuff - somehow you could sell people videos of two clouds bumping into one another... or failing that set up a studio and just green screen some porn to be in a field during a tornado or something... anyone else want the bleach while it's out?

[tropicsgoddess]

Even with a little tropical storm that's gonna hit us, people haul ass and grab whatever they can at the store. Before you know it, all the canned food shelves are near empty...with the batteries and generators. It's like a zoo in there and you would think that it's almost the apocalypse from the way people are acting. That SC was a complete moron.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I must admit, I do kinda go for this "storm porn"

If there's a tornado in the general area, the TV stations will interrupt their normal programs and just show radars and have live reports and play with computer gizmos and stuff. And I can watch it for hours on end.

Fuck, I even listen to it on the radio.

I am pretty much a weather geek. When I was younger I used to watch The Weather Channel for hours on end sometimes.

[mattm04]

We get tis in the winter around here. They predict a whole foot of snow, very common in the winter here, and EVERYONE will go out and buy random stuff. If it is food they will buy it, a dozen cans of SPAM and creamd corn? Seen it. I also saw a lady push her cart up to the shelf and stick her hand behind the cans and just push a few rows into her cart and scurry off.

[Samaliel]

I HAVE THE POWEEERRRRR!!!!!

Sorry. Couldn't help it.

So, the power is yours, huh ?

[mharbourgirl]

Oh god, that happens here too. We get messy winters, and the minute the news stations announce that yet another winter storm is imminent, people go completely bugfuck and you get stuck in line behind people with 2-3 carts worth of food. Enough to last for months, actually. I'm buying an extra loaf of bread, a couple jugs of milk, and maybe a couple of things that I don't usually cook just to have something different to eat.

"There's a big storm coming!" Yeah, and within 2 days the roads will be plowed off, if they aren't cleared by the next morning, and unless there's another 'Winter Juan' (aka the blizzard that hit us 3 months after Hurricane Juan and dumped a meter of snow on half of NS in 12 hours), I doubt very much that you're going to be stuck in your house for the next half-year. Even after the big blizzard, I only missed one day of work because I couldn't even get out my front door at first.

I get that tornados are srs bzns, even if they don't happen where I live, but... that's what storm shelters are for, isn't it? And a thunderstorm is only serious enough to me to unplug my precious electronic gizmos and sit around bored for an hour or so making sure my dog doesn't take another dump on the carpet because thunder freaks her out.

Meh. People are sheep... or chickens... panicking and helpless in the face of anything more severe than a drizzle. Scrap that, people lose their shit over a little rain at times, too.

[draftermatt]

I've never understood the whole "get supplys" mentality for anything other than a hurricane.

Snow? It'll clear eventually, don't you have anything you can eat in the meantime? I mean I would grill everyday if I had to so I wouldn't have to eat canned beets or something.

Rain? And?

Wind? Again, and? The store will likely still be there when the storm is over.

Flooding? Ok here I can understand, but you can't predict flooding (normally) and unless you live right next to, or around a river/lake/ocean, I doubt the "flooding" will be bad enough to keep you locked up at home for long.

Power out? Light a candle. If you need groceries after the power has gone out, go get some. If you drive long enough you'll be bound to find a store with power.

Not to mention most of the snow "have to get" people pull up and leave in SUV's. Why did you buy that if you can't drive in the snow? I mean really! C'mon.

Of course I always seem to need milk everytime they are calling for snow, and I mean, out of milk, or almost out and nephew is coming over kind of thing. So I feel like one of the idiots out there stocking up, when really I just need milk.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I must admit, I do kinda go for this "storm porn"

If there's a tornado in the general area, the TV stations will interrupt their normal programs and just show radars and have live reports and play with computer gizmos and stuff. And I can watch it for hours on end.

Fuck, I even listen to it on the radio.

I am pretty much a weather geek. When I was younger I used to watch The Weather Channel for hours on end sometimes.

Join the club . . . unfortunately I can't get my local updates on TWC b/c I have satellite instead of cable service, but I will leave the tv on one of the local channels and watch the weather coverage nonstop.

And, on a plus note, if I'm outside, I can now listen to NOAA weather streaming audio online (using the Windows Media Player) in addition to having my Weatherbug in the taskbar.

Awesome.

[ShinyGreenApple]

For me, a storm is the perfect opportunity to curl up in bed and read a book until it's either too dark to see, or I fall asleep. Or just peep out the windows every now and then and watch the dirt roads flood and see little balls of hail on the ground.

I like storms

[Imogene]

So, the power is yours, huh ?

Captain PLANEEET!
</Ted Turner>

On topic, I love rain storms, mild to heavy ones are awesome to just sit back and listen to.

[AdminAssistant]

Storms really freak me out, so I appreciate the weather-people interrupting regular TV to say, "Here's where it's raining, there's hail here, and tornadoes are likely", etc. I don't watch it very long - unless it's really bad where I am.

But sometimes that's the only way people know if a tornado is coming in the area. I can do without real TV for one night for that.

[AKWalMartCartGuy]

since I work outside i'd prefer that the lightning stay away, but you don't need to stock up. most stores have generators and you could get to them after anything short of an earthquake splitting the ground

[Mark Healey]

I Guess It's Good Earthquakes come without warning.

You're either prepared or you are not. I have a five gallon water bottle in my closet, a camp stove, and a bunch of canned food (realy just because I hoard when the things I like are on sale). If the big one hits I'll be living off chilli and raviolli for a while.