ATLANTA – Aug. 21, 2017
Darris Pope, a Georgia State University student, happened to be at work at the Costco in Dunwoody when the 2017 solar eclipse happened. “I’ve never seen anything like it, it really is amazing,” said a shopper standing in front of the store. Customers and employees alike took a “short break” from shopping and working to gather in the parking lot together and witness the celestial phenomenon.

“It was wild. The whole parking lot got dark as if it were dusk, it looked like it was 7:30 or 8:00 p.m., not 2:30 in the afternoon,” said a manager who wished to remain anonymous.

“I got lucky. I stepped out from work for about five minutes, and in the crowd of people in front of the store, one lady had viewing glasses. She loaned me the glasses for a moment and I looked up at the sun. It was like when you see a waxing or waning moon, expect it was the sun and the area being blocked was golden, and on fire,” said Darris Pope, an employee at CDS Demo Services, which works with Costco stores.

Groups and even large scores of people took a “time out” from their busy lives to join in a moment of unity as the eclipse occurred over North America for roughly 20 minutes.