Serious. What happened in your this is not a drill moment during work, school, etc.?

I live in a small condo complex that backs up against a major highway,

separated by a tall barrier that's barred concrete, part decorative wood.

So it's like 5 a.m. and I'm dead asleep, and the house shakes.

I roll over thinking, man, someone's set off fireworks way too late in the night. I'm barely

asleep again, and it shakes. This time I'm here the boom, and I'm like, screw those

firework-loving kids. Well, I'm awake. Might as well use the bathroom. So I'm in the bathroom,

and the house shakes again. Boom. Huh. So I look out the back window, and there's an inferno just past the backyard, right where

the lawn meets the barrier.

Oh, and this is right after all those people burned to death in their houses in California.

Nope.

Wake up the husband, shove the cat in the carrier, grab your wallet, get in the car, and leave.

The only exit from the complex is right past the inferno, but we make it okay. The cat's furious.

The husband doesn't see what the big deal is. He's still mostly asleep. And I'm like,

where can we go to watch the news in our pajamas? So at the neighborhood Starbucks, we're watching

on our phones, the local fire department hosing down our condos with fireproof foam.

A gas tanker caught fire and pulled over, then the three compartments

caught fire individually. The driver made it out. Our place was fine, and now I have a go bag,

just in case. I was at a movie theater, one of the big ones with 12 screens. Halfway through

the movie, an alarm goes off and no one really reacts, and then a recorded voice advising that

an emergency situation has arisen, and we are to vacate

the area immediately.

...