It was on a typical work day when, I was awakening by an unusual quietness. I did not hear the usual humming sound of the A/C unit or feel the cool air from the vents. I immediately squinted my eyes to look at my alarm clock only to find no illuminating numbers. I knew that only meant one thing: a power outage. That’s when I began to notice that the wind was blowing heavily and the rain was pounding outside.

I thought to myself, “Did I miss the weather forecast?”Still not knowing the time, I immediately grab my cell phone and was thankful it was completely charged. The time was 8:15 a.m. I was late for work. I immediately contacted my supervisor and was so thankful that she understood my situation.

The next thought that came to mind was what office attire did I have ready to wear? That’s when it dawn on me, that I had not prepared anything to wear the night before and that I did not have any electricity to iron. I immediately jumped up and grab my cell phone to use the flash light app to find something in my closet. My goal at this time was to find clothing with the least amount of wrinkles. I began to sort through my closet in search of those items.

I began to pick up one piece at a time only to find that each was as wrinkle as the other. All I could hear at that moment was my husband saying, “Why don’t you put your work clothes in the cleaners?” and I would reply, “I’m not wasting any money to put clothes in the cleaners when I could just do them myself.” I began to think should I just call in? I thought to myself that would be to embarrassing to call my supervisor back to say, “I can’t make it to work because my clothes are too wrinkled.” I finally chose the most decent thing that I could find to wear and promised myself that I would never be in this situation again.

I’ve learned to always be proactive in preparing your work attire, because you never know when a storm will arise. This experience changed the way I shop for clothing. I started purchasing clothing that required no ironing; just wash, dry, and wear. I’ve also learn to prepare my work attire for the entire week, instead of daily.