Annual Fire Drill

[rusty_armour]

We just had our annual fire drill at work, and I got caught with my pants down. Literally. I was in the washroom when the alarm went off, so I couldn’t grab my fluorescent orange fire warden vest or check my area to make sure that people were evacuating. Instead I stood near the fire exit and tried to watch for people from online editorial, earning comments like: “Hey, aren’t you supposed to have a neon vest or something?” Aaaaarrrrrgggghhhh! I should have paid attention to Murphy’s Law. If there’s a fire drill scheduled then don’t go to the little girl’s room until after it’s over. *Groans* Ah, man! This ranks right up there with killing my CPR dummy during the first aid course because I remembered to do everything except call 911!

Oh, well. At least no one died this time. As far as I know, everyone got out of the building safely, which is a minor miracle considering how long it took us to get down the stairs. Okay, I can understand people grabbing their jackets, but do you really need to bring your coffee too? Hmm...I'm in a life or death situation. Would I rather burn to death or go through caffeine withdrawal. Oh, gee, I don't know. Can I have a few minutes to think about it? Yeah, if there's ever a real fire, we're all going to die.

Comments

[grondfic.livejournal.com]

Man, you KILLED the dummy? How could you?

Just for the record, I'd take the caffeine option every time!

PS: I finished reading your fic - yes I really did! Comments will come - promise!

[puckrobin.livejournal.com]

Back in 2000, I worked on the 17th floor of a building (gorgeous view of downtown TO and Lake Ontario from the window). Several people in my office just hid under their desks in the fire drills, because they didn't want to walk down 17 flights.

I figure that in the event of real fire, nothing will resemble a drill. No matter how orderly the drill, people will panic and trample others.

Allen

[alysscarlet.livejournal.com]

Bwahaha - poor you!

The thing is, people KNOW it's a drill and that changes everything. They bring their coffee because they know they're not in danger.

BTW, I've signed up for longbow archery lessons starting in the spring!

[puckrobin.livejournal.com]

That's cool. I've toyed with joining such clubs, but I don't think I can bring a bow on public transit without causing a few problems.

You'll have Amazonian arms next time I see you.

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Man, you KILLED the dummy? How could you?

I know! *sob* I'm so ashamed!

If I hadn't already had some of my Diet Coke, I might have chosen the caffeine option too...I mean, no! I'm a floor warden, so it's wrong, wrong, wrong! *g*

PS: I finished reading your fic - yes I really did! Comments will come - promise!

Oooooh! Thank you! Comments would be awesome! :-)

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Okay, my building looks really good in comparison! I can't believe that people actually hid under their desks to avoid going down the stairs. Yikes! Well, it was before 9/11. I wonder if people would still do that now. I guess they might if they knew it was just a drill. Fortunately, my building only has 8 floors. It was a much different story when I was still working at First Canadian Place.

You're probably right about what would happen in the event of a real fire. Well, the purpose of a drill (as I understand it) is to make sure that people are familiar with the location of the fire exits and at least some basic procedures.

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Bwahaha - poor you!

Yeah, it was a classic Claire moment, I'm afraid. At least I'm starting to see the funny side of it, so obviously it wasn't that embarrassing.

You're absolutely right about why people act that way during a drill. It would be a different story if they knew they were in danger. If I wasn't in the health & safety committee, I'd probably have trouble taking it seriously too. Okay, scratch that. If I wasn't in the health & safety committee and totally paranoid then I might feel that way. *g*

Great news about the archery lessons! I'm sure you'll have a blast! :-)

[espirk.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry, hon, but... BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! You had me in stitches, you gettin' caught with your pants down! LOL! And no worries, it's definitely not that embarrassing :P

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

Now that the fire drill is dead and buried and it's Friday, I can see the humour in the situation. It certainly isn't the most embarrassing thing that's happened to me. On the embarrassment scale, it's probably only about a 1 or 2 out of 10. Anyway, I'm glad it gave you a laugh. Really. :-)

[espirk.livejournal.com]

It did and I'm so glad you shared it with us :o) And that thing about the first aid course, oh jeez, I don't like doing those scenario things! I always forget I have to call 911 right after I bang on the floor and call out "Hello? Hello! Can you hear me?" First aid... glad I'm qualified for 3 more years before I have to renew! *g*

[sorne.livejournal.com]

LOL! I totally sympathise with the whole fire drill thing! When we first moved to our current offices my desk was right beside the fire exit. When the fire alarm went off one day, I was so excited about getting there first and breaking the glass tube to open the door that I completely failed to realise that there's a special hammer hanging beside it that you're meant to use. I just used my fist to smash it - it worked but I'm sure you can imagine the embarrassing consequences of blood etc! I've never lived it down and even though we've moved now, everytime the fire alarm goes off my collegues always shout at me to run to get there first. And last week when the fire alarm went off, we all duly stampeded down the stairs and it stopped just as we got to the bottom of the stairwell - which only has a fire exit. Of course this meant that the door was locked, as it's only automatically unlocked while the alarm is going off. So people from the floors above us are piling up behind, and the poor guy at the front is frantically pushing the door to no avail when someone notices the sign that's fallen on to the floor - 'push button to open'.

[rusty-armour.livejournal.com]

LOLOLOLOLOL!!! Okay, I think both of your fire drill stories top mine! It's just too funny (and painful) that you used your fist to break that glass tube! However, I think it's even funnier that a whole group of you thought you were trapped in the building until someone found that "push button to open" sign lying on the floor!

Thanks for sharing your very amusing stories! As always, it's great to hear from you! :-)