Back in Grade School

 

Monday an alarm sounded.  I continued to work.  My justification was that I was once again so incredibly busy at work (as I have been this entire month) that I didn't want to pull another 12-hour day.   As the fire alarm continued to blare, I decided that I should really probably evacuate the building.  I broke out in hysterical laughter when I walked out of my office to see everyone standing around discussing what should be done in the situation.

 

Through my laughter I told everyone to form a straight line and to calmly follow me.  Out the door we went, down the hallway and joined everyone else from the building in the great outdoors.   We were all laughing as we did a count off down the line.  Luckily it was a really nice day and so we enjoyed the next five minutes lounging around.   The alarm finally subsided and we all hung our heads and went back to the never ending piles on our desks. 

 

It dawned on me just how quickly sometimes we forget pieces of important knowledge when it counts.  The response while I was younger to a fire alarm would have never been to stay at my desk and get as many things accomplished as possible.   I would have happily jumped from my desk welcoming the break from material being placed in front of me.  It really made me wonder how many other alarms that I choose to ignore or to which I have a slow response.