Please Ignore The Alarm
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0213
I'm at the library, and things have been just a little on the unusual for the past 30 minutes or so.
As is usual for a Saturday afternoon, the computer area was packed. Patrons were seated at the computers, exploring various nooks and crannies of cyberspace. Still other patrons were more or less patiently awaiting their turn for a computer.
That's when the fire alarm went off.
I think everyone's head jerked up simultaneously. That alarm was designed to grab everyone's attention, and trust me, it did what it was designed to do. I glanced over at the reference desk. None of the librarians at the desk (including the manager of the branch) seemed to be showing any sort of alarm. Nor were they making any move to evacuate the floor. As best as I could tell, they wanted to be sure this really was an emergency before putting everyone through a replay of the fire drills we went through when we were in school.
Seeing that the librarians weren't particularly worried -- well, at least not yet -- I did my best to ignore the blaring of the alarm, and went back to what I was doing. I was not going to log out unless I absolutely had to do so. There were enough people waiting that if I had logged out, the odds were good that someone else already had the computer reserved. As I made a quick survey of the floor, that seemed to be the general opinion of anyone else sitting at a computer.
I resumed my perusal of the Internet. I don't remember how long it was, but I do remember seeing a fireman in full gear making a brief appearance on the floor. I'm guessing whatever triggered the alarm also alerted the nearest fire station. He didn't appear to be any more worried than the librarians were, so once again, I turned my attention back to the computer.
I'm not completely certain, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what happened. I know that there is an emergency exit at the bottom of the stairs, and it is clearly marked that an alarm will sound if the door is opened. I also know that, as I was going up to the second floor to use the computers, the library was setting up for some sort of musical performance, and things were arranged that the stairs could not be used during the concert. I think what happened is that someone went down the stairs after the concert started, and discovered that they couldn't leave the stairwell.
The intelligent, logical thing to do would have been to go back up to the second floor, and use the elevator -- which was not blocked. The stupid thing would have been to go out the emergency exit, and trigger the alarm.
Would you like to take a guess at what probably happened?
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0213
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0213A
ADDENDUM
It's Monday now, and I found out what really happened. I saw the branch manager when I entered the library earlier, and I asked her if she had had fun Saturday. I also asked what had happened. As it turns out, my theory was completely wrong. Some kid had wandered away from his mother's attention for just a minute or so, and pulled the fire alarm. The mother told one of the librarians what her little darling had just done, then decided to exercise the better part of valor and disappear.
The fireman I saw made his appearance because, just as I had surmised, pulling the alarm had alerted the fire department. As I also learned, he was needed to turn off the alarm, and return the library to its usual blessed silence.
So I may have been wrong in the specifics. I was right in that someone had done something really stupid.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0213A
I'm at the library, and things have been just a little on the unusual for the past 30 minutes or so.
As is usual for a Saturday afternoon, the computer area was packed. Patrons were seated at the computers, exploring various nooks and crannies of cyberspace. Still other patrons were more or less patiently awaiting their turn for a computer.
That's when the fire alarm went off.
I think everyone's head jerked up simultaneously. That alarm was designed to grab everyone's attention, and trust me, it did what it was designed to do. I glanced over at the reference desk. None of the librarians at the desk (including the manager of the branch) seemed to be showing any sort of alarm. Nor were they making any move to evacuate the floor. As best as I could tell, they wanted to be sure this really was an emergency before putting everyone through a replay of the fire drills we went through when we were in school.
Seeing that the librarians weren't particularly worried -- well, at least not yet -- I did my best to ignore the blaring of the alarm, and went back to what I was doing. I was not going to log out unless I absolutely had to do so. There were enough people waiting that if I had logged out, the odds were good that someone else already had the computer reserved. As I made a quick survey of the floor, that seemed to be the general opinion of anyone else sitting at a computer.
I resumed my perusal of the Internet. I don't remember how long it was, but I do remember seeing a fireman in full gear making a brief appearance on the floor. I'm guessing whatever triggered the alarm also alerted the nearest fire station. He didn't appear to be any more worried than the librarians were, so once again, I turned my attention back to the computer.
I'm not completely certain, but I think I have a pretty good idea of what happened. I know that there is an emergency exit at the bottom of the stairs, and it is clearly marked that an alarm will sound if the door is opened. I also know that, as I was going up to the second floor to use the computers, the library was setting up for some sort of musical performance, and things were arranged that the stairs could not be used during the concert. I think what happened is that someone went down the stairs after the concert started, and discovered that they couldn't leave the stairwell.
The intelligent, logical thing to do would have been to go back up to the second floor, and use the elevator -- which was not blocked. The stupid thing would have been to go out the emergency exit, and trigger the alarm.
Would you like to take a guess at what probably happened?
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0213
OPEN: JANUS FILE #0213A
ADDENDUM
It's Monday now, and I found out what really happened. I saw the branch manager when I entered the library earlier, and I asked her if she had had fun Saturday. I also asked what had happened. As it turns out, my theory was completely wrong. Some kid had wandered away from his mother's attention for just a minute or so, and pulled the fire alarm. The mother told one of the librarians what her little darling had just done, then decided to exercise the better part of valor and disappear.
The fireman I saw made his appearance because, just as I had surmised, pulling the alarm had alerted the fire department. As I also learned, he was needed to turn off the alarm, and return the library to its usual blessed silence.
So I may have been wrong in the specifics. I was right in that someone had done something really stupid.
CLOSE: JANUS FILE #0213A