Great American Pastimes: The Fire Drill

First time El Andaluz had a fire drill at work, he came home and said "guess what happened at work? The fire alarm went off." 

And I was like, "did you leave immediately?" 

And he said, "No, I started packing up my stuff."

I interrupted him. "OMG you didn’t!!"

"Yes that is what my colleagues said, they had the exact same look on their face as you do now. They said, 'we have to leave right now.'"

I slumped back in my chair, relieved.

"There was no fire," he added helpfully.

"You just justified your colleagues' entire life," I said. "The one thing that unites all Americans is the fire drill. From kindergarten onward, you have monthly fire drills at school."

"Why every month? Why not just once a year?"

"You have to be ready," I said. "You need muscle memory to work so when there is an actual fire, everyone knows what to do."

One of America's favorite pastimes is trying to anticipate worst case scenarios and building everything around that, instead of the assumption things are fine and will continue to be that way, so why tempt fate?

Three things that I can't handle in Spain: 

1. Interior apartments without egress to the street. 

2. No smoke detectors or carbon monoxide alarms. 

3. Unbreakable bars on exterior windows.

Maybe it is in my genes, the love of anticipating catastrophe. My people worked in insurance for generations. We were probably the cavemen afraid of fire, eating raw plants and berries long after everyone else started making delicious stews.

"Cuando oímos el alarma de incendios, paramos, nos ponemos en fila, y salimos del edificio."

 

Versión en español