I was looking forward to serving as the keynote lunch speaker for the Corpus Christi Hispanic Chamber of Commerce annual Women in Energy lunch on May 28th. I started to get nervous on the 27th because I had just survived that harrowing drive from South Texas the day before and the rains continued. The executive director assured me it was all clear in Corpus Christi. I just had to escape the Houston storms.
I sat up wide awake at 3 am on the 28th. The storms pounding and crashing against our house. Winds, lightning, and torrential rain persisted. Shortly before 4 am I thought, I should take a shower just in case we lose power because my hair is dirty and I have to blow dry it. Moments after that the power blew. And the storms raged on. I placed a 4:15 am call to Centerpoint hoping against all hope power could be restored before 6 am as I HAD to leave the house by 6:30. So at 5 am, when loud pounding began on our front door and my husband jumped out of bed to grab a gun, I shouldn’t have been surprised to find the lovely men from Centerpoint trying to get access to our backyard in the pitch black storm.
By 6 am, the storms had subsided but the power hadn’t returned so I attempted fixing my dirty hair (which had been in a clip) and make up by candlelight in our bathroom. By 7 am, I had picked up my best friend at Starbucks south of town and regaled her with my morning drama.
I knew I had to flat iron my hair because it looked crazy. The gas station bathrooms didn’t have any outlets. So we went on the hunt when we arrived in plenty of time in Corpus Christi. After driving around the part of town near the convention center, we spied a Burger King. I ran in and sighed in near despair when I noticed their bathrooms had no outlets either and didn’t even have a mirror. But on my way out, I noticed outlets embedded in some of the booths. Hope springs eternal. I jumped into the car and asked Mary, “umm, how weird would it be if I flat ironed my hair in a booth at Burger King?” Without missing a beat, she replied, “Not weird at all, and it will make for a great story!”
So she and I purchased a small soda from the cashier and set up a fix up shop in the thankfully nearly empty Burger King. As I proceeded to flat iron my hair in the booth, Mary held up her small compact mirror and took pictures and assured me that no one was looking at us (I just suspended all rational thought for a moment and allowed myself to believe that last part). After repairing my hair, I repaired my make up which was looking a little wacky from the candlelighting. And the upside was that we had great natural light from all the Burger King windows.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
We collected our things, threw away our cups, and off we went to conquer the world (or give a speech as my best friend cheered me on – what a gift she is).
Plus I had a great opening line for my speech: Well it is an honor to be here to speak at the Women In Energy lunch. However, I was a woman OUT of energy this morning when the power went out in my house. On the upside, I now know that the Corpus Christi Burger King has outlets in their booths where you can flat iron your hair! It just goes to show you, whether you are a woman in energy or out of energy, it’s harder being a woman.