"I'm up on the eleventh floor"

 And I'm watching the rain pour below.

Okay, so the above line isn't the real next line from the song. And I wasn't on the eleventh floor, I was on the eighth. There are no floors higher than that where I work. 

I had an adventure yesterday afternoon. 

We had one of those  torrential downpours where the thunder roared, the lightning crackled and the wall of rain was deeper than the wall of sound.

It was a slow roll of a start - the black clouds coming in, the drip of the drops. 

Then a whip of light and a rumble happened. Next thing you know, it's P O U R I N G. 

Hard. 

Wind is blowing so fierce, the palm trees might topple over if they're not careful. That's when we could see the trees because the rain was so fast and furious, that people reported they saw hail. The weathermen reported this storm front spawns tornados. 

And here I am, at work. I've got my watch charging because there's something running in the background again and it's using all the juice. I've got my work phone on silent and charging because I never took it off the cord. All I've got in my pocket is my personal cell phone and I decide to go up to one of the attached buildings and see if I can see Captiva.

Bad idea.

Where my office is located, there is a central commons area. At the end of one hallway is a set of elevators to one residential building and down another hallway is the other residential building. Both are easy access for the residents. 

So I went to the building that has a better view of Sanibel and Captiva, plus all the mangroves. I took the elevator up to the top floor (eight) and got out. Mind you, it's damn windy out. It's bucketing rain. The floor is slick and a death trap to anyone walking on it, let alone a resident. Why they decided to have painted cement in a part of the country that gets a lot of rain for a few months, is beyond me. 

But carefully I went to each end of the floor and looked across the tops of the trees.

Or tried to.

The rain was coming down so hard, that the tops of the trees were barely visible. I could not see any other buildings or mangrove islands that you usually can spot on a clear day. Some of the closer trees looked like they were stuck in a real heave / dense fog. You know, the type of fog where it's all white on top and as you work down to the ground it starts getting lighter. That's how the trees looked. 

So I had enough of getting drizzled on and I made a bee line to the elevator. I was under cover enough that I was just getting "ocean sprayed" and not "drowned rat".

Don't ask the difference. Ocean spray is like when you go to the ocean and you get misted by the water. Drowned rat is when you look like you've just jumped in the ocean with all your clothes on. Which has happened to me before. The rain has come so quick while I've been working, that I can't get inside and get dry. Mainly because I'm not near my office. So I get drenched to the point I need to empty out my wallet and put toothpicks in it to dry. Put all my cash on paper towels, wipe down my plastic cards...

Anyway, I get on the elevator. I decide to go to the first floor and check the recycle bin. I like trawling the bin because you never know what you'll find (I've found a lot of stuff that's been pitched). 

I get to the first floor. Check the bin. Nothing. Trash has been picked up. Head back to the elevator to go 2 floors down to the Commons area.

Elevator doors open, I step in. Press "C" (commons). Doors shut. 

Next thing I know, it's dark.

Fuck. Power just went out. And I'm stuck in the elevator with just my cell phone.

A phone that doesn't have everyone's work number in it that I would need in an emergency. 

The power outage lasts just a minute but I'm pacing in the elevator. 

I'm panicked. I had felt zero gravity like the blood drained entirely from my body. It was dead ass silent. I felt some negative pressure in my head. I don't know what to do. 

It felt like those scenes in horror movies where the person is knee deep in getting chased or being watched and the killer is about to get them... the sound drops from the scene and there's a close up of the person, worried face, scanning the room. But no sound at all in the scene. 

Yea, I had one of those moments.

I might not like my job, but I don't want to die in an elevator there. 

So I get my phone out. I start texting the girl at the front desk because I have her personal number. I can't remember which building I'm in. I am finding it hard to breathe. 

I don't know what to do. 

It's still silent, although there was just a couple beeps of the elevator restarting and the buttons turning on. But nothing else made a sound. 

I put my phone away and don't text the woman. Instead, I press some of the elevator buttons. I can't be that far down or between floors.

Nothing happened. The buttons lit up but there was no movement. Maybe because I was already moving when the power blipped, so the elevator needs to be restarted to finish its descent. 

I don't know. I'm not moving. Doors aren't opening. I panic some more. 

I try to pry the doors open. I get it cracked enough to see light and doors in front of me.

Yes.. not between floors!

I continue to muster enough strength up to get the doors open enough that I can slide out. 

Which I did. 

Except I was so excited to see the lower level garage (P1), that I didn't realize I wasn't completely level with the ground. 

I step out of the elevator with more of a stumbled jump. 

I was about 2 feet off the ground. 

Getting on solid ground, I closed the doors back up. Walked out the mini lobby, and went to the stairwell. Walked through a short hallway that led to the outside. Opened that door, walked out in the rain, and rain into the Commons area. It wasn't that far of a run, just 10 seconds, so I didn't get all that wet. 

I told the girl at the desk what just transpired and how I was going to text her. She said she wouldn't have heard her phone anyway, as she was in the back room making copies. But she'll call the Call Center and report the elevator being out of commission. Which she did. Explained that I had just been stuck in it and that I had to open the doors myself to get out. Can someone take a look at it?

For the next hour, I just sat at the desk, wondering what in the high hell just happened. It was something you see all the time but don't expect. 

How many times are we in places during storms and don't think something bad will happen? 

I want to know what happens to these residents with wheelchair and walkers and the power goes out. How do they get to ground level if they can't walk so great?

All I know is that I'm never getting in an elevator during a storm again. That's all I know. My fat ass is taking the stairs whenever I need to go higher than the ground level I'm on. So I'll be out of breath for a minute. But at least I won't get trapped again.

Now I've got to get ready for work. At least it's Friday.

Stay safe, stay dry and stay off and out of electrical places.

Cheers;