How To Be Swedish

I’ve noticed that people in Sweden get very nervous about thunder. I’ve never really considered thunder in and of itself to be any sort of a threat to safety, but here a little rumbling in the distance means you should take immediate cover and unplug all electronic devices. Sweden doesn’t experience much in the way of dangerous weather like tornados and hurricanes and even what could be classified a ”thunderstorm” are very rare, I read somewhere that there’s an average of 4 a year here. That’s a slow weekend in the midwest. So a little bit of thunder and, God help us, a couple flashes of lightning, and you’ll see some borderline panic happening. I was walking home the other day when I heard the slightest roll of thunder from off in the horizon. Suddenly it was like a scene from some childrens book I remember reading where there’s a huge giant approaching the village and the ground is shaking and all the people are screaming and scrambling for safety. I’ve always enjoyed thunderstorms. I say just  get off the aluminum extension ladder and maybe put the 9 iron away and head for the clubhouse but a little thunder isn’t going to hurt you. Once trees start coming down or your car gets tossed onto your neighbours house you can start to worry.