From Hero to Zero in 10 seconds flat

So all this talk about earthquakes reminds me to remember that I have a daughter to grab before I race for the door when there's a whole lot of shaking going on. I mention this because I might have inherited my father's propensity to panic and flee when an earthquake strikes. When I was kid and an earthquake struck (usually really early in the morning) I would fly out from under my sheets and crawl under my bed or desk to wait it out. Well a few seconds into the shaking and I'd hear my dad screamingly like a mad man running across the hallway, down the stairs and then out the front door - of course leaving me, my sister, and my mom in the house (where technically it's safer but amusing to see how my father would flee like a bat out'a hell without thinking to save us all of us). I'd usually just fall back asleep under my bed or desk and wouldn't think much more of it.

Fast forward to when Miho was pregnant with Minami (at home in Long Beach) and I was working late at the school I teach film at. I'm out in the hallway finishing some paperwork while the students are chatting in one of the classrooms. suddenly the whole building shakes and like a lightning bolt I dart across the hallway, pass the classroom door where my students are, and jump out the front door in the open courtyard. As soon as I land to safety (or to what I thought was safety) I realized, I totally left my students to parish in the building while I saved myself. So I ran back and started waving to my students to come out the front door. Needless to say I felt like a total idiot for not immediately thinking of leading my students to safety. In the end the earthquake wasn't a bad one and no one was hurt (I called Miho and she was fine) but my pride was bruised. So now I make it a point to go down a mental checklist when such an emergency occurs - it may take a few seconds longer to move but at least I can feel better about myself once I get out of that situation.