Like an earthquake

[senseandsensibility]

Many years ago, as a beginning teacher, I found myself teaching a class of first graders as an earthquake struck. For someone who grew up in CA, I had experienced very few earthquakes at that point. Just a couple of short, sharp jolts that were over almost before they began. But this one was different; it was a long, rolling one and it scared the daylights out of me.

But as terrified as I was, I immediately went into teaching mode and reassured the kids that it was okay, and they would be fine. The alarm had been triggered and they were under their desks with their hands over their heads. I talked them through it as some of them cried out for their mommies, telling them over and over that it would be okay. They stopped crying, the earthquake ended, and as we waited for the second alarm telling us that they could come out from under their desks. As we waited, I realized that I had been so preoccupied with the students that I had not taken my recommended position under the doorway. I had just stood in front of my desk, a target for any falling debris. Not good, obviously, and I never did that again.

Well, I find myself feeling those same emotions after the debate debacle and the horrendous SC decisions. Once a teacher, always a teacher, I guess. I can think of nothing to do but reassure, have faith, and do my best to make sure all the bases are covered. Most of my posts since the debate have been in that vein since Thursday night, although to be honest, I am scared %%$$less. I know some of you are too. It's going to take positive thinking, pro-active steps, participation, and buy in from all of us to get through this. There will be mistakes ( like me not getting in my correct safety position), between now and November. We need to come through them stronger, and not let them rattle us.

[AllaN01Bear]

1. i was in the 1971 sylmar earthquake

.in bed in my room and my middle sis in hers . all of a sudden, bambo. the quake hit. we shot out of bed and into the doorjams .
mom was yelling get under the door jams, where are you. looking for my glasses , forget the glasses . loman and barcley weer on the radio and describing the scene in their studio @ kfi. twas a mess they said , then news broke in and then national news broke in. the scarriest part was the quake and then the poss of the van norman dam collapsing. eek. our training taught us to react imediatly.

[senseandsensibility]

2. It's easy to freeze when earthquakes hit

isn't it? Unlike some natural disasters, they come out of nowhere which is really scary.

[AllaN01Bear]

3. with the training we had , the schools trained us constantly along w fire /cemo/nuke , the training was engrained to

us whenever the bell went off and reaction was instant with the magnitude of that quake . most of the quakes were 4 or less. like a lorry going by.

[wnylib]

4. Yes, training puts you automatically in the correct response mode.

Being in the northeastern part of the US, my experience of quakes has been limited to a handful of very minor ones.

But, when I was 14, we had a house fire at 2:00 am. It was in the living room and my brother, who was still awake after a late night date, discovered it and went to each second floor bedroom to warn us.

All those drills in school took over. We accounted for each other quickly in the upstairs hall and proceeded single file down the stairs to the front door which was at the bottom of the stairs. We all knew that the front door was locked at night and where the key was kept on a window ledge near the door. One brother calmly but quickly reached for the key (while the rest of us reminded him, "The key! On the ledge!" ).

I remember that on the way down the stairs, we had to pass by an open, double wide archway to the living room. We could see the flames eating up one entire wall. The roar of the fire was deafening. The heat was so intense that I felt like running back up the stairs to get away from it. But that feeling was VERY brief because of all the school fire drills that taught us to just keep going toward the nearest accessible exit and NEVER turn back for anything. Besides, my parents were right behind us in line and would have stopped anyone who tried to go back.

There are no drills for political emergencies. There is no automatic response. But, being prepared with knowledge of what each side in a campaign stands for does help. So, in the middle of feeling down about the debate, or in a state of panic over it, we can remember what Biden has done, what he stands for, what the stakes are, and that he is in the best position, regardless of the debate, to beat Trump. Biden has accumulated donations necessary to campaign. His team has done (and is doing) the preliminary work needed to get on the state ballots. He has a team already put together. He has defeated Trump before. He has a record of accomplishments. He can fire up people in speeches. The primaries are over.

It is too risky to try to turn back and redo primaries, just as it would have been a disaster for me if I had turned back upstairs in our house fire. A new candidate would have to start from square one with fundraising, getting on ballots, building a team, with only 4 months to go.

Instead, we can focus on available paths forward together with Biden to a successful vote in November, just as my family moved forward together past the fire with nobody hurt. In fact, even the damage to the house was limited because, once outside, my father grabbed the garden hose which was connected to an outdoor faucet and aimed it through the living room window of the wall where the fire burned inside to prevent it from spreading outside and up to the second floor. When the fire department arrived, the fire was already pretty well contained. They put it out completely. Although there was smoke and soot throughout the house, the only serious damage was to that one wall and the ceiling and floor on that side of the living room.

Any current damage from the debate will not bring us defeat in November unless we give up now in despair, or follow false paths of going backward to redo the primaries. We will succeed if we stay together and move forward.