Lightning Strikes
One afternoon Baton Rouge got some big thunderstorms, and the rain continued into the evening. It rained so hard that it collapsed most of the blue tarps that were put up over the entrance to the building to provide some shade from the sun.
That evening, some of us decided to go out to a Mexican restaurant for dinner, and Jaime, Arnie and I congregated at the back door of the headquarters building. We were going to ride in Arnie's car to the restaurant. We opened the door and looked out, and it was Niagra Falls. It was raining incredibly hard, and a wall of water was running off the roof just outside the door. Arnie and I put on rain coats, and Jaime put a big plastic trash bag over his head as a poncho.
Arnie's car was parked on the grass 75 yards away. At the count of three, Arnie pushed open the door and we charged out into the rain. Half way to the car a lightning bolt hit just on the other side of the car, and the flash and bang froze us in our tracks. We looked at each other, eyes all white, and together screamed "Run!" I yelled "Hit the remote, hit the remote!" as we slogged to the car, yanked open the front doors, and jumped in.
"Where's Jaime?"
I replied, "He must have stayed inside". I looked towards the back door we had just run from, and it was opening a few inches, then closing shut. The big chicken had stayed behind. I called him on his cellphone, "You big chicken, get out here to the car. I thought you told me it rains like this all the time in Puerto Rico". Jaime replied, "Yes it does, and when it does, I sit inside on the sofa and watch it". So I said, "You big chicken, we'll drive the car over to you so you come out and get in".
Arnie drove the car over, and finally the door swung open and Jaime came running out. Unfortunately, the door locks locked when Arnie put the car in drive, and when Jaime got to the passenger door, it was locked. He pounded on the window, and rocked the car as he yanked on the door handle. He was yelling in a mixture of English and Spanish, while Arnie fumbled with the door locks. Finally, Jaime was inside. We all realized that the rain gear had done us absolutely no good. We were soaking wet. Jaime never stopped yellling until we reached the restaurant.
After we went inside and were seated , Jaime ordered a margarita. It came in a glass the size of a fishbowl. We commented on how, as the level of his giant drink went down, his English improved. He agreed, but mentioned that his face was getting numb. It was a great evening, and I was amazed and pleased with the friendships that had developed in only a few days.