(Strange atmospheric conditions have caused the sky to turn deep red. Looking out the windows of the office, it’s like looking into a furnace.)

Coworker: “Isn’t there something in the Bible about the sky turning red? This could be the end of the world.”

Me: “If it is, do you think they’ll let us take the rest of the day off?”

I worked at a popular fast food place for two years. One day, I was “asked” to come in on my day off and, not owning a car, biked twenty minutes there in the rain. Not even an hour after I got there, the rain turned into a storm. Wind knocked over a street lamp and it landed on the nearby power-lines, cutting the power to the entire side of the freeway our store was on. The backup generator only keeps the main register and freezer running; everything else, such as the second register, fry station, and meat slicer, were all shut down.

We had to put all of the cold stuff into the freezer and apologize to any customers who walked in, as we couldn’t make any food.

My boss got on the phone with the power company and learned it would take a while for someone to get out to fix the lines, so he sent three of us home, leaving just him and one other manager.

I had just arrived home, soaking wet, when I got a text from the manager saying that someone was already there to fix the lines, and the boss wanted me to come back before the dinner rush began.

I told her no.

(One day when I’m in first grade, there’s a tornado warning for my school’s area. We go through the routine for tornadoes, something we’ve only ever done as a drill before. Basically, all the students line up in an interior hallway, kneel on the ground against the wall, and cover their necks with their hands. When the teachers get news that the tornado is heading straight for us, they decide stronger measures are needed. They start herding as many students as possible into windowless rooms. My teacher leads my class, still lined up alphabetically, to a storage closet, where we do the same kneeling-against-the-wall thing. It soon becomes clear that one person isn’t going to fit, and since my last name is at the end of the alphabet for my class, that person is going to be me. My teacher closes the closet and takes me to another one, where a second teacher has ushered a group of seventh grade boys. We all pack into the tiny room, and the teachers don’t stay with us. It’s pitch-black when they close the door, I’m with a group of much older boys who I don’t know, and there’s a tornado coming. I start to cry.)

Boy #1: *trying to comfort me* “Hey, it’s all right. We’re safe in here.”

Me: *still crying*

Boy #2: “Are you ready, kids?”

Half The Boys In The Room: “Aye, aye, captain!”

Boy #2: “I can’t hear you!”

Every Boy In The Room: “AYE, AYE, CAPTAIN!”

Boy #2:” *singing* “Oooooooh, who lives in a pineapple under the sea?”

(Despite being at the age where little kid songs were seen as uncool, this group of seventh grade boys sang the entire “Spongebob Squarepants” theme song and every Disney song they could think of to keep me from being scared. I stopped crying soon after they started, and joined in with the singing. Luckily, the tornado didn’t hit us, and we were let out about an hour or so later.)

(In south Louisiana, snow is rare. This weekend we had a record-breaking snow storm. The town I work in is a ten-minute drive away, and crosses a large river that has only two bridges over it. The main highway “new” bridge was closed first, then an accident occurred on the second, “old” bridge. I call my boss as soon as I see my snow-covered car.)

Me: “Hey, I don’t think I’ll make it in. My car is covered, the new bridge is closed, and there’s a wreck on the old bridge, so it’s closed.”

Boss: “No, the bridges are both open. You will be here on time.” *click*

(The department of transportation lists both bridges as shut. About an hour before my shift, the old bridge opens as the accident clears. It remains open for eight minutes total before someone else wrecks.)

Boss: *text* “Bridge open. Get here now.”

Me: *calls him* “There was another wreck and the bridge closed. Department of transportation says it’ll stay closed until the ice melts.”

Boss: “Well, you’ll just have to get in line so when it opens you can get here.”

(I straight up told him no, because it was too dangerous to try and drive in an unknown weather condition. I went in the next day, and he made me stay four hours late and basically told me I was at fault. Yeah, it’s my fault it snowed. And, I work in a grocery store.)

This story is part of our Somehow Even More Weather roundup!

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Dad: “Hey, did you know it’s raining outside?”

Me: “Where else would it be raining, exactly?”