All Shook Up
Posted By Irene C. Olszewski, Esq. on August 23, 2011
I was in my office this afternoon, sitting in my comfy chair in front of the computer. The chair is one of those black leather “executive” chairs that rocks, swivels and can even roll across the room. I’m easily amused. I love my chair.
I was deep in thought (which is scary all on its own) when all of a sudden, I felt my chair rocking back in forth. I thought it strange because I was not rocking the chair, I was actually sitting still. I’m rather sure I’d know if I were rocking the chair.
The chair continued to rock back and forth and I thought perhaps I was experiencing an episode of vertigo. I’ve never actually had vertigo. mind you, other than that quick rush one feels when standing up quickly after bending down. But hey, I felt the chair moving beneath me and vertigo seemed plausible.
I looked around the room and observed that none of the pictures on the walls were moving. The trees just outside my window weren’t moving, either. This was not good. As the chair continued to rock, I became concerned that perhaps my supposed vertigo might actually be some type of major medical emergency. A stroke? Heart attack? I was getting nervous. I stood up and realized that the floor was also moving beneath me. I went from nervous to scared in a flash.
I walked to the doorway of my office and noted that my assistant was on the phone. She was rocking back and forth in her chair, which is something she does often. She seemed not to notice that the floor was moving beneath her. Hmm. Could she be making the floor in my office move? I thought not. I shuffled back to my chair and found that it was still rocking even before I sat down again.
Could this be a poltergeist? I’ve viewed my share of horror films over the years and the thought of a poltergeist taking over my law office didn’t thrill me. The medical emergency with me as the victim didn’t thrill me much, either.
I got up and saw that my assistant was just finishing her call.
“Something’s not right,” I explained.
Then I sat in one of the chairs in the waiting area. It was moving beneath me, too. I was starting to feel queasy.
I was about to tell my assistant to call 9-1-1 when we both heard someone running up the stairs. The man from the office on the lower level of our building burst in to the office. He usually knocks first.
“The building is moving!” he exclaimed. He looked frightened.
Sudden relief washed over me. I was not experiencing this strange moment alone. The building was moving. It had apparently been moving for close to seven minutes at that point.
I ran to grab my keys and instructed my assistant to grab her things and get the heck out of the building. She didn’t hesitate. I don’t think we walked down the stairs, we took flight. I hadn’t realized this middle-aged lawyer could move that fast!
We met up with the guy from the other office in the parking lot only seconds later. We all stared at the building and wondered if it was going to suddenly fall over or something equally weird. It didn’t move. There was no wind blowing — or anything out of the ordinary going on. We walked around the perimeter to see if perhaps the building was doing some strange sort of settling. Nothing was amiss. Our building had moved for seven very long minutes — of that we were sure — and just as suddenly, all was normal again.
My assistant made a call on her cell phone and was told that there had been an earthquake. Some State buildings in Hartford (one town away) were apparently being evacuated.
An earthquake? Huh?
When we were all reasonably sure that the building wasn’t going to start moving again, we went back inside. In my office, we were both immediately on the internet looking for some news. I’m sure the guy in the office below us was doing the same.
My assistant shouted to me that an earthquake had hit the D.C. area. We had actually felt the tremors all the way up here in East Hartford, Connecticut. Wow. I didn’t like that thought.
As you might expect, friends and family were calling and texting each other to determine who had felt the tremors. Earthquakes aren’t exactly an every day event where I live. Some people hadn’t felt a thing. They also hadn’t heard yet the news. At least two others I spoke to told me that they, too, had felt the movement and also believed they were having a heart attack or something. They were equally relieved that it hadn’t been a serious medical issue.
Nobody else mentioned the possibility of a poltergeist. I guess they don’t watch horror movies.
In the aftermath of our little moment of terror, I found myself grateful that a few minutes of a small tremor was all I had experienced. It scared the living heck out of me, let me tell you. I hope I never feel my building moving again.
On a very serious note, I sincerely hope that those who were right in the middle of the earthquake are safe. My thoughts and prayers go out to each one of you.
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Disclaimer: The information, comments and links posted on the blog do not constitute legal advice. I will not respond to any specific legal questions in the comments section of this blog. Read my entire disclaimer.
copyright 2011 Irene C. Olszewski
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That was amusing to read. I was in a waiting room on the 3rd floor of St. Francis in Hartford, it didn’t seem like minutes to us, only about 30-40 seconds. Funny, how we both took the stairs to go outside and thought the same thing, that the building was going to come down on us. Friends with more experience with earthquakes say we all did the wrong thing. I guess we’re suppose to stay in doors (like in a doorway) and stay out of stairwells. Who knew? It’s not like that kind of thing happens around here all the time. I’m, also, very glad that is so.
Lynn,
Thanks for reading and for sharing your comments. I, for one, am thrilled that earthquakes are not a regular occurrence in our neck of the woods. Had I actually known it was an earthquake, I might have followed the advice of those who have experience in such things and stayed indoors. To be honest, once I got past the fact that I wasn’t having some sort of medical emergency, all I heard was “the building is moving” and my first reaction was to get out! I don’t believe we even considered an earthquake … in my mind, it was likely some sort of underground gas explosion or something of the sort! Whew. I’d prefer never to experience that again.