June 8th, 1974....what a long day! I showed up at my new job at Arby's near 42nd & Peoria. (the ONLY Arby's in Tulsa then) I had worked there two weeks. I was was given the opportunity to assemble two aluminum picnic tables to be used in front of the store. I was handed a hammer and the wrong type of screwdriver but after several hours in hot, muggy weather with Japanese instructions...I got them both built. They were beautiful!

As I was going inside I felt a kick in the wind and looked down Peoria to the South. There was hard, blinding rain in a green swirling cloud coming north on Peoria. I ran inside and told my manager a storm was coming and quick. He tossed the keys to me over the counter and ordered me to lock the doors. I don't know if anybody remembers but back then Arby's was essentially a glass shell up front with two doors. I locked the south door and noticed I could no longer see across the street. I turned to lock the north door and out of the corner of my eye saw both picnic tables were airborne. My reaction was to flinch because milliseconds later they pushed through the glass front. I have no idea what happened after that because for about 20 minutes I was unconscious.

Apparently after the swirling passed, the assistant manager dragged me to the back freezer, which is where I woke up. My only injuries were mild concussion and dozens of tiny cuts on my arms and back. Only one cut required two stitches. There were too many trees and power lines down for any rescue vehicles, plus there was about three or four inches of standing water between the curbs of Peoria.

After the store medical kit did all it could to help me, the manager set us to work in getting the place cleaned up all we could. (After all we were on the clock!) We worked until after 2 AM.

By then my Dad somehow made it to our store and took me to St. Francis for glass splinter removal and the two stitches, which by the way was not because of the picnic table through tthe front glass, but because my boss dragged me through broken glass to get me to a safe place!

Just before I left at 2 AM, two customers pulled up, walked through the completely shattered front, stood at the counter and tried to order sandwiches. I asked them if they minded roast beef with glass fragments which subdued their appetite and they left.

The next day I returned to work to continue reassemble work and my memory recalls that Shakey's Pizza had been really hit hard. The employees had gone to the freezer safe and sound. Apparently they had radio...Arby's had "musak".

Ahhhh memories!