So this is how it’s going to end…..I thought…nibbling on my clam strip.
I ditched tornadoes in Omaha…..Chicago….and the South….only to be swooshed away on a strip of beach on Long Island….How ironic.
I wonder what the folks would say at home.
"Did you hear about Gina and her hub….they got blown away in a lobster roll?"
"What were they doing in a big bun?"
"No no they were in a skimpy fish shack called the Lobster Roll…..and got blown out to sea."
I ate another clam strip (they were too good to leave behind…) and waited for my Dorothy moment.
The wait staff looked pale….they had already battened down the shack….secured the awnings…..locked the windows.
The hostess ….a young pale thing…..maybe 18 years old…..gazed out the doorway saucer-eyed and stood absolutely still……as if somewhere…. in some fish shack manual….it said …..if there’s an impending tornado….stay calm…. gaze out the doorway…..and stand motionless next to your podium.
A few minutes ago…..a woman arrived at the restaurant….dripping wet from the gale outside and announced….there was a tornado reported down the road.
Everyone gasped and looked out the windows…..she sat down….however, and picked up a menu….I guess if you’re at a famous fish shack on the Montauk highway….you might as well place your order…..
it could be….after all…. the ultimate TO GO order.
The lights went out…. came back on….then went out again
The storm….sheets of rain with wind that shook the shack was not letting up. 20 minutes ago we were driving down the highway under overcast skies….where did this monster storm come from?
Since there was no place to run to or hide…..it made sense just to stay put….but as an experienced duck-and-cover-here-comes- a potential-tornado-person…..I knew the thin wooden walls of the old fish shack would probably hold for only a nanosecond or two….if the real thing was bearing down on us.
Still….I asked my husband to sit at the end of the booth seat…..he rolled his eyes….but complied.
“If the place starts to go….we can dive under the table.”
“You’re kidding ...right?.”
“Well it would give us something to do as the place blows away.”
I continued to eat my golden delicious clam strips ...as water dripped from the window next to the table….….leaves and bits of trees flew by outside.
The hostess remained firm at her post.
Gradually….the rain stopped…..and the waiter appeared to remove my plate.
He looked relieved we were still on Terra Firma.
“Would you like dessert?”
“Yes …Please,” I said with true joy....
because you should always celebrate not getting blown out to sea in a flimsy fish shack on your vacation.
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To amuse myself while the storm raged.....I doctored a little sketch the restaurant gave out to kids to color while waiting for their food....
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