Bombs away

Today on my way to checkout at Costco, I was stopped by a security officer. Actually, we were all stopped, everyone in the store.

"There's been a bomb threat," she said, an odd little smile playing on her face. "Please leave the store."

I must have blinked or looked at her funny because she said, "Yes, please exit. Immediately."

So I left the cart with the food and I made my way through the cavernous warehouse that is Costco. Everyone around me was both calm yet unnerved. I'm pretty sure we were all thinking the same two things.

1. If it was called in, it probably ISN'T a real bomb. Those tend to explode with no warning.

2. Dying in a bomb blast at Costco is really NOT how I imagined going. So if there's even the slightest chance that this is how it's going down, I really don't want to be here.

I started walking faster, annoyed by the acres of products I had to pass. There was a young mother with toddler and she told her, "Run!" It makes me so sad to think of a little girl running from a bomb threat.

I feel bad for Coscto because of those hundreds of abandoned carts full of products that will have to be re-shelved, for the peak hours of lost revenue, and because I really have the foulest luck with that store. First my wallet stolen last year and now a bomb threat.

I am really proud of everyone who was there. It was crowded and stressed, but no one pushed, yelled, or honked their horn in the parking lot gridlock as everyone tried to leave at once. I hate that these things happen, but I think we all endured it with calm and grace.

I guess that's the best one can hope for.

More later.
Tammar