On Fire

Some stories are probably better if you don't hear the whole thing. As I was coming back from my lunchtime walk today, the building next to mine was being evacuated. "It's funny," one woman remarked to another as I was walking past. "He's not the sort of person who normally starts fires."

Fire drills aren't too bad on a day like today, which is nice and bright and sunny, but not too warm. But we had a tornado drill a few months ago that didn't go quite so well. Most everyone eventually made their way to the downstairs inside hallway, but several of the smokers went outside - which is generally contraindicated during a tornado. No one ever remarked on this later, so I guess whoever's in charge of building security doesn't object to a few casualties here and there.

Our building was evacuated about fifteen minutes after the neighboring one. Do you know, I've now worked here a little over ten months, and I've never been given any kind of instructions regarding where to regroup during an evacuation? Most of the people who work near me gathered in one area, but Robbie and I meandered off to go hang out with other members of the three-martini break group at the opposite end of the parking lot. I'm not sure if we're supposed to do this. For one thing, how can anyone make a tally to ensure that everyone got out of the building safely? And for another, the flow of traffic from employees getting in their cars and leaving makes crossing the parking lot a little hazardous.

So, not the best-organized of fire drills, plus the alarms seem unnecessarily shrill and likely to cause permanent hearing loss. I was planning to use my ears tonight, dammit! But the guy on the PA announcing the all-clear seemed satisfied. "Please return to your worksites," he said, "and thank you for participating in the 2006 fire drill for Building 118!"

What, no T-shirt?