recently, due to cold temperatures, a pipe broke in the sprinkler system at my work. one minute i was enjoying lunch, the next i was wading through water trying to save whatever i could. i keep referring to it as a disaster, because in the little world that is my work place, it was disastrous. but, i don't know if it would be a disaster in the grand scheme of things. i don't know if there is a sliding scale that determines whether or not something is in fact, a disaster. maybe it has to do with numbers of lives lost or square miles destroyed. i mean, in comparison to say, hurricane katrina this was minute. and, luckily, the only casualties were leather dress shoes and electronic equipment.
what i have learned about myself through this experience is that i don't necessarily respond well. i found myself just standing, staring at the destruction, unable to move. because i realized that no matter what i was able to salvage, the devastation was far beyond anything i could comprehend. i stood watching water pour down a door, not unlike a waterfall, and i thought to myself (i may have even mumbled to someone nearby) "this is bad, this is very bad." and, it was bad. but, we will recover from it.
we will recover. we are in the process of recovering. and, after the fact, there are stories to tell...where were you when you heard the call for help? what was the first thing you saw? what did you do? and, on this side of disaster, you even poke fun...whose elaborate plan was this to get us new carpet? who was our of the office today, it was their fault. you recover and you go on with life.
