I worked at Kmart on 41st Ave and was scheduled to work 2pm to 10 pm. I was going through a divorce and was out apartment hunting earlier and went to work to make calls from there. At around 4 pm, my first break, I called a rental and spoke to a older man. It appears that he knows one of my managers and because of that verbally rents the apartment to me, over the phone, the sight of me unseen!!
At the 5:03 pm time I was working the front service desk and was able to get under the counter, and gesture to anyone in the area to do the same. I was in work mode first, got all the necesssary keys and made sure all monies were locked up, went outside and regrouped. Later that night and the next day Kmart opened their doors to those in need of blankets, batteries, flashlights, candles and many other items that people in the neighborhood/community might need, that we had to give.
Now, Kmart (that store anyway) sold beer and wine. When our store went about cleaning and categorizing all of the losses you can bet that the crew wrote off just about the entire beer and wine department. Then we had a much needed party with the store crew and all!
PS. My daughter thought the earthquake only happened at our house!
By Phyllis Burke
