In Indiana, we have a lot of storms. Some tame, some extremely not tame. Friday, the 31st, we had one such "not tame" storm. Hurricanes blew through a few towns, and virtually all of Indiana was blanketed in thunderstorms.
Before the storms began, Becky and I decided it would be fun to go to the movies. She picked out the flick and the time (cause I'm too lazy) and it was settled. Failure to Launch, 7:10 pm.
(Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew McConaughey
Failure to Launch)
We found our seats, sat through a half hour of previews, and began laughing at the movie. At about 8:15, the sound cut out of the movie. People were beginning to shift in their seats. This went on for about 5 minutes before the movie cut out completely.
A girl with a red hat and tie came in and walked quickly to the front of the theatre.
"There is a tornado WARNING, everyone needs to leave the theatre immediately!!"
Before we could react, a second theatre employee came in, flapping his arms while he repeated "NO NO NO..."
They both left, which caused an uneasy feeling in my fellow movie goers. What do we do? Stay? Go?
Suddenly, a short, thin employee entered the theatre, and announced, with a Chris Farley voice:
(Chris Farley as Matt Foley - motivational speaker
the theatre guy sounded like him, but never mentioned a
"Van down by the River.")
"Everybody needs to calm down!! There is a Tornado Warning until 8:45 pm!! Do not leave the theatre!! Everybody needs to get against the wall!!" (Sorry for going all willy-nilly with the exclamation points, but he was pretty adamant!!)
People began to whip out their cell phones as the scurried to the sides of the theatre. Becky and I remained in our seats. I figured I could always get under the theatre seats if anything began falling. Becky said I wouldn't fit, which almost prompted me to demonstrate that I would, but the floor was sticky, and it felt unnecessary.
At 8:35, Farley re-entered the room, and told us the movie was about to restart. This was met with glee as everyone began filling their seats once more. The crowd complained about the missing 5 minutes of movie, and asked if the film would be "rewound."
(NOTE: For those of you not in the know, movies come in 5 or more small reels. These reels are then spliced together into one giant reel. Through an intricate process, the movie feeds through a "Brain" and then through the camera. IT CANNOT BE REWOUND without messing us the brain, and whatnot. It's not a dvd up there, it's a big bunch of film that is a pain when broken, or worse, dropped.)
When everyone was in their seats, the lights began to dim, and then we heard the Tornado Sirens blaring once again. The lights came back up, and Farley came in to break the news.
"There is another Tornado Warning until 9:30!! You can leave, but it is at your own will!! Everyone needs to get against the wall!!" (apparently, they HAVE to shut off the movie during severe weather, so as not to "keep us in the dark" about the severe weather.)
We stayed, because we have nothing better to do on a Friday night, and besides, we were cracking up laughing at these people who had apparently never been in a storm before. (NOTE: we were NOT laughing at the people who lost their houses or worse in this or any storm...that is all.)
Finally at 9:30, the movie cranked up again to our delight. People complained about the movie not being "rewound" and were told to see the manager after the show. Come on, people!! This isn't a complex plot here...how hard is it to figure out what happened in those 5 minutes of silence?
At 10:30, the movie was over...3 and a half hours, and we didn't even see Titanic or Green Mile!! We were content to leave, but we saw the "re-whiners" up getting free passes, so I got in line and picked up a couple, too. Why not? Did I mention the movie was quite funny? It was.
(Oh, I would also like to give a special thanks to the theatre employee with the broom who stood in our theatre during the entire delay...guarding and protecting us with his mighty cleaning spear!! He didn't say anything, but wow, I would have been terrified if not for him.)
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