In the event of a fire, don't follow me

We had another exciting morning here at the senior center, a.k.a. our apartment complex (which we still love, by the way).

Since January, our building's fire alarm has gone off 4 times.

The first 2 times they were working on pipes in the ceiling and bumped a switch. The 3rd time I'm guessing was related to the pipes, but I'm still not sure, but this time I knew it had to be different because the work in the ceiling has long since passed.

So there I was in the early hours of the morning, dripping wet, having just stepped out of the shower and the fire alarm went off. Perfect.

I was always taught in the event of a fire, you grab your "emergency" pair of shoes (that should be tucked under your bed with your 72 hour kit) and exit the building as quickly as possible, leaving all possessions behind. [To do list: put extra shoes and 72 hour kit under bed]

I remember as a child thinking, "but what about my stuffed animals?" I couldn't bear the thought of leaving Cola, my beloved koala bear to die in the fire. And then if I saved him, how could I leave Cream (my stuffed dog)? And if I saved Cream, what about all the others? Sometimes at bedtime, I crowded them all into bed with me because they seemed way too sad down there on the floor looking up at me. Leaving them in a burning house seemed a bit too much to ask.

Anywho, so in these first minutes of blearing warning sirens I'm wondering if it's okay for me to grab my purse. And if I grab my purse, what about my journals, should I grab my journals? And if I grab my journals, what about my photo albums?

It's amazing what goes through your mind when you think your apartment might be going up in flames...and me, evidently, if I didn't stop thinking about my stuff and get the heck out. But at least I wasn't concerned with stuffed animals...my ruffled pillows on the other hand... ha! Just kidding.

And of course, I have a small bit of pride to think about. I had just stepped out of the shower. My hair was soaking wet. I didn't have any makeup on. I hadn't put my contacts in yet (hello glasses). And then there was the question, do I exit immediately wearing only my bathrobe or chance fate and get dressed?

Again, the most ridiculous thought process ever, during a possible fire.

Well as you can guess, since I'm not updating my blog from the Red Cross, I lived to tell. I chose to get dressed quickly, grab my purse and exit the building. On the way down the stairs I did smell something burning. Not the kind of smell that's like the building's on fire (not that I would really know what that smells like) but kind of a candle-burning-gone-wrong smell.

I met an elderly neighbor outside (who obviously followed the rules of safety, sporting her baby blue bathrobe), who said someone had burned something in their apartment and then opened the door to the hallway, which set off the building alarms. She wasn't too happy since she was just about to step into the shower herself...and went on to say "why don't they turn this @!#$% thing off, I've got a doctor's appointment?!"

Nice to meet you too.

Thank goodness for false alarms to prepare us for the real deal. Obviously I need a few of them.