Tonight I learned yet another lesson about myself while living abroad. Lesson #2349568403: I do not prioritize well in emergencies.
At QM (Queen Mary) they have practice fire drills every week. The fire alarm will go off for about 10 seconds and then shut off. The fire alarms here are worse than they are in the US -- like so loud and obnoxious I can't even explain. Tonight I was reading and the fire alarm went off. Because we've had so many drills I just waited for it to shut off and I could return to reading. It never stopped. This is where I starting learning that I suck at prioritizing in emergencies. I put on my sperry's and my scarf (?! no jacket??) and proceeded out to my flat. WHICH WAS FILLED WITH SMOKE. Seeing that this could actually be a real life fire I went back into my room grabbed my jacket and the ONE THING I chose to save from a potential real fire was my blanket. WUT. Not my computer, wallet, passport, or any other prized possessions that could help me survive/essentials to get me out of the country….just my blanket. Turns out my flat was on fire thanks to my roommate who lit incense and just left it on fire (?) We waited for the fire department who casually WALKED into the building and checked the situation out. After twenty minutes of standing in the freezing cold (good thing I grabbed my jacket at the last minute) the fire was put out and did not spread. For the first time I'm thankful that we have fire doors throughout these buildings.
No comments:
Post a Comment