Sutherlin Bi-Mart

 The other day I had to make the weekly trip into the Sutherlin Bi-Mart for prescription refills and a few other items.    The parking lot was almost full, but once in the store there were not that many people.   When I returned to the parking lot I noticed some vehicles with people sitting in them, many by themselves.   There were some loggers in muddy pickups talking to each other.   A few women were talking near the shopping cart return area, but many people in their cars were just watching people come and go.   Once I got into the car I spent a little time watching people, plus there is the parade of log trucks on Central  Avenue hauling all the burned up trees from the Archie Creek Fire east of town.   It was kind of entertaining.  With restaurants and taverns closed this might be the new place to socialize.

Crisis at the movie

 

While attending a movie yesterday afternoon with some friends an alarm goes off in the theater.   In addition to the sound of the alarm white lights are flashing on the walls.  My first thoughts is this some kind of drill, a joke or is there some person with a gun shooting people in the lobby.   Then a voice comes over the speaker telling us there is a fire in the building and please exit outside.  Slowly people make their way to the exit as the movie continues to play.  Before we depart I reach for the bottle of water we purchased in the lobby thinking it might come in handy in extinguishing any flames that we might encounter on our way out.  Everybody makes an orderly exist, including the elderly and a few disabled people.  Once outside in the parking lot we all mill around in disbelief not knowing what to expect next.  I look around for raging flames or a column of smoke, there is neither.   We notice an usher waving for us to return through the main entrance, so we make our way back into the theater as a fire truck arrives.   As we enter into the lobby fireman dressed in boots, yellow jackets and fire helmets stand guard and look as mystified as the rest of us.   The fireman do offer a sense of security by just being there.   There is a peaceful feeling that the fabricate of our society is still held together by some level of government that still functions properly.   While making our way through the lobby we  hear an usher say that some person had been smoking in a rest room which set off the alarm.   We find our seats, the movie is reset to where we left it, life returns to what we expect it to be and at that moment we are not sure what that is any more.