It Could Have Been Worse

Although the clouds were getting darker and it was around 37 degrees Celsius, in my mind, I thought that I would be able to get home before this storm. I had been to my mom’s to visit her a bit because it had been some time since I had done that due to covid although some people think it is gone. I had only been there for a few hours when she said that I had better leave before the storm hit. Moms always know best, therefore I left.

On the home on the way home I remembered that I needed to buy food for my pets, so I stopped off at this big pet shop. If I hadn't been distracted with all those cat trees and all those cats up for adoption, it could have been different.

As I was heading towards the cash register, I heard this pounding noise that just started getting louder and louder. First, I thought it was in my head, but then I realized that it was the rain coming down. The cashier was very sweet and polite and started small talk. I guess she didn't notice that panic was taking over me. I thanked her and headed towards my car which was parked in front of the store - luckily. However, I still couldn't get in. There was just too much water coming down and because of the heat if I got wet, it would just fog up all of my windows; so, I decided to wait.

Nevertheless, the rain came down in buckets; the street turned into a river and every time a speeding car would drive by a wave would form and head towards the store. So much so that the store owner decided to close the door so that the water would stop coming inside. When he did this, there power went off. Oh no! No a/c! Until that moment we were comfortable and felt safe. I was sitting in a somewhat comfy chair in front of the place where the pets are groomed.  The water was coming in not only due to the waves but also due to the wind. The wind was scary and so powerful that it was bending the trees over. I broke out in a nervous sweat. As I waited, I kept on thinking: ‘it could be worse’.

There were around 25 people waiting for the rain to die down; we waited and waited for a good 30 minutes, but when you have nothing to do 30 minutes can feel like 30 hours. Every time that I thought the rain was dying down, it was just the wind shifting it's coarse. This was the kind of storm that not even an umbrella could save you because a man walked by and his umbrella just turned up; so, he too got into the store. He knocked on the door; the shopkeeper opened it.

We waited and waited 10 more minutes. I started thinking that if this rain reached my neighborhood, I'd never get into my home because for sure the streets there would be flooded.

This woman who was standing next to me started grabbing her bags and saying that she could make it; she needed to leave and it seemed to have died down. I looked out the shop window and saw that the street was still a river but passable. I asked the woman who was getting ready to leave if some specific streets flooded and she kind of told me to take the main avenue which for sure would not flood. However, she was wrong. I managed to get into my car a little bit wet even so the windows did fog up and I started my adventure heading home.

The drive was an adventure for sure. The bigger the car, the bigger the wave. But the street was kind of slanted to the side so of course there was more water towards the sidewalks than in the middle of the lane. Nonetheless, those big cars made it a point of wetting people on the sidewalk- as if they weren´t wet enough. They drove was as if they were playing a video game; the more people you wet the more points you get. It didn't make any sense to me, however, at some point it was good that they were in front of me because as they detoured the fallen trees so did I.

I headed towards the specific avenue that the woman had mentioned, but it was no help because all of the waterfalls (the water from the streets were all cascading down) just ended up there.  So, I started trusting my intuition and turning left and right; avoiding these trees and flooded streets. I had never seen so many trees that had fallen. Mind you, it was still pouring; not as bad as when I was in the store waiting. However, it was still heavy and I was still panicking. It's funny how with age approaching I am panicking more nowadays than when I was younger. How I hate driving in the rain, especially during the rainy season in this tropical country.

After several turns, I ended up in the place that I had never been before - on streets that I had never driven on before. I just started going left and right and I kept thinking ‘you have to go up, you have to go up because there the streets won't be so flooded’. But going up didn't mean I was going into the direction of my home – I was lost!

All of a sudden, I remembered that I could turn on my GPS. Funny how when you don't rely on the GPS, you tend to forget that it exists. So, I found a safe place to stop and turned on my Google Maps - the one that I like to use. That bitter, shrill female voice from Google Maps, which drives me crazy sometimes, started comforting me. I knew that she would get me to where I had to go.  I just wanted to be on a street or an avenue that I recognized.

When I started using it, I was notified that I was 8 minutes from my home. I was so relieved I could have gotten out of the car, jumped up and down and done the happy song but I didn't. With the first ‘50 meters turn left’ I knew where I was, which was also a relief because I could turn off that horrible voice.

It suddenly dawned on me that the rain had struck my neighborhood.in case she had heard anything on TV about the storm and floods. She did not, but reminded me that I shouldn't go the way that I usually go home. Her suggestion was for me to take the long way home. At this moment I was reminded of the Supertramp song. Mom´s always know best but we are stubborn children. I noticed other drivers going down that way I wanted to go, so I did. Luckily the floods had gone down. In fact, there was only a big pool of water at the bottom of my street.  I said a little prayer, sucked it up and went which was great because my car didn't get stuck, but it could have.

As I was driving up the street, I started getting relieved because my home is on a hill but to get there you do have to go around and all the streets around surrounding the building flood. What a relief! Finally, as I parked my car in my spot and turned the key filled with gratitude, I thought ‘it could have been worse’.

For a few seconds I started thinking that it was only water. Why did I panic so much? Ok, so I do not know how to swim, but I was in a store with other people. If I passed out or something, people would help me. It could have been worse. It could have been bombs. This thought took me to the wars going on in the world thinking of the way these people live in constant stress, pain, sadness and constant dread.

Before getting out of my car, I said a prayer.

Written: March 2, 2022

 

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