Fire Alarms and a Long Wait

By Chris

Wrapping up two days in HOTlanta (mid 70's today) with a several hour airport wait. Got here early and tried to get on the earlier flight, but was denied. I missed it by one person, and probably could have gotten on if I pushed (you see, no matter how much earlier you get there than someone with a bunch of frequent flyer miles, the more frequent flyer can jump ahead of you on these standby lists. And, I have quite a few miles. Though others have more, I usually fair pretty well in this process now). I felt sorry for this older couple though. They had a stack of tickets in their hands and very weary, defeated looks on their faces. I could tell they were caught in one of those travel nightmares where every option they had to get home had been messed up by some weather event somewhere in the country and the nasty trickle down effect canceled flights has on the system. Who knows where they had been before here and for how long. So, I voluntarily asked to get behind them on the list. They literally cheered when the agent called them. The husband had the sweetest look on his face watching his wife cheer up. I heard him say he would let her go if they could only get one seat. They did a cute-old-people-holding-hands walk through the door. So, I'm still in Atlanta. It might not be true, but I'm imagining they are gonna get there and get big hugs from Grandkids in the airport who are very anxious to see them. That makes it better, I guess.

I've experienced hotel fire alarms going off before. Always, they quickly went off with no action needed. Last night, just as my dinner arrived, off goes the alarm and blinking strobe lights. Through the speaker in the room, the automated voice says something like "There is an emergency in the building. Cease operations immediately and evacuate the building. Do not use the elevators . . ." Over and over. At first, I didn't believe it. But, it kept going on. I see how people panic. It was so loud, and blinking light that you can't quite think. I was "gotta leave. Am I dressed. No time to look. Which way do I go. What do I take. . . . " So, I did a quick tuck and check and went into the hallway. This one seemed real. Lights were flashing and the alarm was going of there too. I could hear men in the stairwell yelling "Go, Go, Go! Quick!" that'll get the adrenaline pumping! The maintenance staff were urgently flying everywhere and one was turning a big knob on the red pipe in the stairwell (water, I guess). I got outside, and a group was looking up at the roof "I saw flames," one said. Once the adrenaline wore off, I thought about what I should have done differently. I left my cell phone in the room. Could have used that. What if I got stuck? It would have been helpful. Left the wallet too. Could use money and credit cards if I couldn't get back in. I gave myself a failing test on disaster reaction. But, I had to give myself credit for one thing, I thought: I was out of the building alive. That's objective one in a disaster, right? One lady, who got out very late, explained "I was in the bathroom, and it would have been a disaster of another type if I had gotten up!" HA!!! Eventually, it was all proclaimed a "false alarm." Huh? What about those flames you saw, dude? Group hysteria, I guess. Dinner was cold, but back-to-back college bball was on, so it was an o.k. night, I supppose.