Fire Alarm

Yesterday I walked across the street from my office to visit a local store. It is one of those large ones that has groceries as well as home appliances, video games, and clothing. I like the store and go frequently. As I got closer I noticed that the fire alarm was going off and making a lot of noise. That didn't seem to keep anyone from going into the store. Other people's actions confused me.

I got closer and saw a few people coming out of the store and so I asked several strangers if the alarm could be heard inside. Yes, but nobody was really in a hurry to get out of the store. I couldn't believe that people would continue to walk in. Furthermore shoppers were putting employees in danger by continuing into the store.

What good is technology if we don't take advantage of it? If there really is a fire and you walk into a burning building, you could get seriously hurt or even die. If there isn't a fire, but the fire marshal shows up, you can be assessed a fine. In the state of California it can be up to $1000. I really didn't want to come back later but knowing I could be fined a large sum of money helped inspire me to turn around and come back later.

Ignorance is not an excuse. If you come to a public building and the fire alarm is blaring. Don't go in. How hard is that? All you have to do is wait until it stops. If the fire truck pulls up before that happens, then go someplace else. Waiting the 4 to 6 minutes for emergency personnel to arrive is well worth the wait.