Fire Alarms & How I am an Idiot
So, I was sitting at work... in the middle of a conference call and off went the fire alarm. So, as a dutiful employee, I grabbed my personal belongings (purse, cell phone, wallet, badge), hung up the phone (or so I thought) and walked SLOWLY down the 4 flights of stairs into the parking lot.
Now, before I continue, let me say--IF there were a FIRE, it would have been a 50/50 chance that I would have actually made it out of the building to safety. There was casual conversation, strolling in the hallway, and a whole lot of us STANDING at the top of the stair, doing nothing but chatting, while waiting to walk the remainder of the flights to what was supposed to be safety. It took 10 minutes... 10 MINUTES for me to walk out the doors to the bright sunny morning. That has NOT got to be good for our safety, dontcha think?
After a pleasant talk with co-workers and upper management about the weather, golf (which I do not play) we were given the go ahead to walk back into the building. Again after 10 minutes of chatting, strolling, and exhausting stair climbing we made it back to my desk. Where-- I had FORGOTTEN TO HANG UP MY PHONE.
See, I am in corporate America- we wear headsets when we are on long calls, and I turned off the headset-- and LEFT THE PHONE OFF THE CRADLE. So, the other participants were happily able to listen to the alarm for a whole 3.5 minutes and then hung up to have the call when it is over.
Mark it up to my idiocy. Or ditziness. Or both. Maybe next time I'll remember to hang up the phone and get out of a meeting.
Now, before I continue, let me say--IF there were a FIRE, it would have been a 50/50 chance that I would have actually made it out of the building to safety. There was casual conversation, strolling in the hallway, and a whole lot of us STANDING at the top of the stair, doing nothing but chatting, while waiting to walk the remainder of the flights to what was supposed to be safety. It took 10 minutes... 10 MINUTES for me to walk out the doors to the bright sunny morning. That has NOT got to be good for our safety, dontcha think?
After a pleasant talk with co-workers and upper management about the weather, golf (which I do not play) we were given the go ahead to walk back into the building. Again after 10 minutes of chatting, strolling, and exhausting stair climbing we made it back to my desk. Where-- I had FORGOTTEN TO HANG UP MY PHONE.
See, I am in corporate America- we wear headsets when we are on long calls, and I turned off the headset-- and LEFT THE PHONE OFF THE CRADLE. So, the other participants were happily able to listen to the alarm for a whole 3.5 minutes and then hung up to have the call when it is over.
Mark it up to my idiocy. Or ditziness. Or both. Maybe next time I'll remember to hang up the phone and get out of a meeting.
