Announced Fire drills are stupid and a waste of my time. In my work I have, at best estimates, been part of 20 or so scheduled fire drills. They tell you in the morning the fire alarm will sound at 10:00 am. At 10 it goes off. Big surprise. Then we have to leave our desks and stand in the hallway while the alarm is blaring for about 5-7 minutes. Why? I ask myself this every time it happens.

I have already practiced my fire drill, I will run screaming with arms flapping wildly yelling “Fire!” I think this is just another case of getting the corporate folks to be more in line. I am not allowed to sit at my desk, I have to do what everyone else is doing. If you voice descent you are looked as a looney who doesn’t fit the corporate mold.

If there is a real fire, and when the alarm sounds, I am sure things will be different in how we all react. People will say practice makes perfect, well true, but making us get up and stand in a hallway is not showing me how to get out of the building. I have now perfected the wall stand. Slightly bent knees, back against wall, head down trying to block out the annoying noises blasting overhead.

It feels like a short story I read once in school where the smart people (not that I am saying I am one) are fitted with a device around their heads that blast loud noises to halt thought. Does anyone know this story?