Tornados, FlavorLock™, Lucchese Boots

What do tornados, FlavorLock™, and Lucchese Boots (Lou-KAY-see) have in common?  Big D, Texas. 

My recent business trip to Dallas, Texas was like no other trips.  Timing made it particularly difficult.  It is unnecessary to regurgitate the obvious.

It is also not very interesting to detail what I was doing in Dallas.  Unless you were actually living through it like I was, they were just a bunch of mundane details.  I can summarize that it was not fit for whiners.  Or the brain-deads.  It was "shit or get off the pot."  It was deathly exhausting.  Highly stressful.  Dreadful.  But I am really good at what I do, so I choose to be in Big D with all the other good peeps.

I have couple colleagues who are now my great friends for life.  You see a person's true character when faced with adversities.  

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Tornados.  I have never been within 2000 miles of a tornado.  Big D graced me with two warnings in six days.  

"Oh, don't worry, huuunny!  It's just a warning!  If the sky turns green, run to Del Taco next door and take cover."  
"Do they have a safe room?"  
"No, but they have a walk-in freezer."  
"Isn't it cold in the freezer?"  
"Yeah, but it's solid." 

What if the entire walk-in freezer got blown to Kansas?  I would be cold AND across state line.  That was not comforting.  

Lightning was showing Thunder who's boss, and Thunder would have nothing of it. So they argued like an old couple who's been married for fifty years:  Loud, nonstop, and about nothing.  Then came the horizontal sheets of rain.  Flash flood warnings.  My tiny rental Chevrolet Sonic was hydroplaning on the highway, and I imagined cars being washed away, "as seen on TV."  I waited for Moses to part the water on I-75 so I can drive to the hotel safely.  Apparently he bumped a ride on Noah's ark.  Go figure.

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FlavorLock™.  A FlavorLock™ is a one-way valve on a sealed coffee bag. Coffee continues to release CO2 after it's roasted, a process called de-gassing.  A sealed coffee bag would burst if there is not a way to release its trapped CO2.  A FlavorLock™ valve releases CO2 without letting air (oxygen) to enter and oxidize the coffee.  It's pretty magical.  

Here's my buddy's story.  

Buddy enthusiastically explained the functions of a FlavorLock™ valve, how it would prevent CO2 build-up and burst the bag. That's how we keep our coffee fresh. 
"Person A" enthusiastically made an analogy:  "You mean burst like a dead body?"  
Now Buddy has been around the blocks a few times. Unfazed, Buddy replied, "yeeeeahhhh, like the Texas roadkill..."  
"Person A" replied, "yeah, sure, whatever.  That'll work."  

No, "Person A" meant a dead body.  

The analogy made me cackled.  I find it colorful, expressive, and hilarious, probably because I don't have a story like that of my own.  

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Lucchese Boots   I can't stand shopping for clothes.  I find trying on clothing that looks better on the hangers than on my body deflating.  The hunt for the right sizes, the anticipation, the disappointment.  The getting in and out of the pieces and adjusting everything underneath without messing up your hair.  God, it's exhausting.  

On the windows of the Orison Boutique in Old Town McKinney says "We Dress Texas."  That should be my first warning, but I'm not sure what for.  A pair of distressed leather cowgirl boots with cute daisies caught my eyes.  So I entered the rabbit hole.  I wanted to take a picture of the boots and post for my friends on Facebook.  It was Alice in Wonderland... 

Three hours later, I bought myself enough goodies and gifts that the staff has to box them up so I can check in as checked-luggage.  I wanted "a little something" to remember Texas by, like a pair of socks; instead, I got a Texas experience that turned around my deathly exhausting and stressful business trip.  

Wendy loves what she does.  It was obvious.  She has her own photography studio down the street, and works at the Boutique for fun.  We exchanged stories. Laughed.  I tried on all kinds of clothes.  Wendy offered to make me lunch in the boutique kitchen because it was 2:00 pm and my blood sugar was dropping fast. 

I was grateful for Wendy, not only because she spent 3 hours picking me clothes and accessories and Lucchese custom handcrafted boots that are all "uniquely me," but because she reminded me of something important:  Everybody has a story.  

It reminds me that I may never know the impact, positive or negative, of my interaction with another person.  Each human interaction is unique.  Given the opportunity, choose to interact in an useful way that just *may* result in a positive impact. The choice is mine, and mine alone. 

I left the Orison Boutique with more than my gorgeous oxblood cowgirl boots.  I bought more than just great gifts for me and my girl friends.  I got a loving experience to remember Big D, Texas, and it turned around my deathly exhausting, dreadful, and highly stressful business trip.  

Now, if only I have a celebratory event to wear my pretty little black dress.