The Ground Shakes!

An earthquake is the quickest way in the world to sort out the native Californinan's from the people that migrated here.

We just had a 5.8 earthquake which is a decent size, but still not big enough to do a ton of damage in a place like Southern California where we have strict earthquake codes built into our construction standards. Pretty much, unless you were at the epicenter or in a crappy building there is not much of a danger from a quake like that.

I am a southern California native. The worst earthquake I can remember happened before I was ten. I remember sitting under the kitchen table for what felt like hours watching things fall off of shelves, the stereo speakers shake, and everything in our house clink, rattle and crack. I also survived the huge San Fransisco earthquake a decade or so ago and remember sitting and waiting forever to find out if my Uncle and his family were okay and their home was still standing.

So as I sat calmly in my chair through today's earthquake I watched others panic about the ground moving, and I took a look around and nothing was falling over, falling down or breaking...so nothing to panic about. Just sit, wait it out and if it doesn't stop, gets worse or things start to go to hell then deal with it.

However, as I am learning gradually I am one of the few genuine southern California natives. So I sat and watched as my co-workers got up from their chairs, dived under their desks, and panicked about what was going to fall on their heads.

I'm sorry to be harsh on those that are freaked by earthquakes, but I really don't mean to be. I just find it kind of funny. I've dealt with them my whole life and they're over so quickly that I just wait them out...

Have fun with the aftershocks.