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My Accidental Run-In With the Scientology Headquarters
It was as weird as you could expect
It is almost a cliche to make fun of Scientology, mostly because they make it so easy. The Onion has skewered them repeatedly, with headlines like, “Scientology Losing Ground To Fictionology”.
I have a unique perspective on this because I live near their global headquarters in Tampa Bay. Last week, I visited it accidentally and realized there’s only one small thing separating them from a normal religion.
First, it gets quiet
I was driving across the Howard Franklin Bridge, enjoying the scenic view of Tampa Bay’s shimmering blue waters. I intended to have a simple, fun day with the spouse near the water, checking out stores.
We parked and began exploring. As we crossed a sidewalk downtown, surrounded by tall buildings, I said to Laura, “Why is it suddenly so quiet? That’s weird.”
She glanced around and said, “It is weird. Did we scare everyone off?”
“This has a strange post-apocalyptic abandoned town feel. Maybe we are in a movie?” I said.
“What’s it called?” Laura said.
“The Day After,” I said with authoritative finality.
