Ten-Inch Bow Ties

 

When I was a little girl, my grandma warned me never to use a phone during a thunderstorm. For years, I thought she was just being paranoid. Surely, phone lines are shielded from lightning strikes, right? I was wrong. Every year, a couple of people in this country die because they were talking on a land line during a thunderstorm. You’ll probably see that number decrease, not because land lines are becoming safer, but because they’re becoming so rare. You can, of course, talk on your cell phone during a storm – as long as it’s not currently charging. (Hah.) Other indoor activities that put you in danger during an electrical storm are bathing, washing dishes, or using any kind of electrical equipment. And here’s one I’d never have guessed: Don’t lie on concrete floors or lean against concrete wall when there’s thunder. Lightning can travel through any metal wires or bars, including the rebar in concrete.