Earthquake Machine

On my way to the office, I heard loud noises coming from where the taxi stands were located. I turned my head to see what was going on but a small crowd had gathered and blocked my view. I detoured from my normal route to check out what the deal was.




It was an earthquake machine and volunteers were asked to try it out. In return, they would give the volunteers a small gift bag. I saw one run through and fear ran down my spine. The machine shook the volunteers so hard that they could barely stand. It was like an amusement park ride gone terribly wrong. The realization that I live in a place that is suppose to get the "big" one soon slapped me hard in the face. The phrase that I heard from the Discovery Channel a few months ago about Tokyo as, "the city waiting to die" kept playing over and over in my head. I mean I have already experienced some earthquakes in my short time here, but they were nothing. Most of them I didn't even know were earthquakes until I had to confirm with other people that they were indeed earthquakes and not another case of my indigestion. I know I may be over thinking the situation, but coming from the Washington D.C. area where earthquake is not even a part of our vocabulary, gun violence is less frightening than the ground moving uncontrollably. I really hope that I will not get shaken up like a martini when the "big" one does hit Tokyo.