Coffee Table Declarations
Friday, February 13, 2004
I was reviewing the phone procedures today and one of them said that if the fire alarm ever goes off, the phones need to be put on the "night" setting (a complicated sequence of buttons to be pressed) before exiting the building. I remember when I was trained I was told that this was not necessary and if there was ever a fire drill of some sort, I should just get the heck out of the building. When reading it over I thought, "well, now that I can set the phone so quickly it would be no problem to do it before exiting." I speculated how that situation had not arisen the whole time I have worked here (over a year).
In a freakish twist of events that could only happen on Friday the 13th, a mere two hours after I had those very thoughts, the fire alarm went off. Needless to say I was entirely too flustered to do much of anything, let alone switch the phone setting. I was startled by the sudden ear-piercing sound but unsure as to whether they were just doing tests on the system or something. I looked up to see my nearest neighbor standing up and grabbing her coat. It was only then that I went to the closet, grabbed my coat, and as an afterthought, went back to my desk and grabbed my pocketbook. It was almost like I was so stunned by the incident that I couldn't think straight or move quickly. This may have been a problem if there had been an actual fire.
* * * * *
My valentines so far are as follows. The mailman reached into the candy bowl, pulled out a peppermint, handed it to me and said "happy valentine's day." A nice woman coworker came by and gave me two pieces of chocolate, one that said "you're cool" and one that said "be mine". I ate one of them immediately. Another coworker came by my desk and I picked up the peppermint given to me by the mailman, handed it to him and said "happy valentine's day." This afternoon a coworker gave me a piece of paper on which he had drawn a big heart and a smiling fish. Because he had given me a valentine, I gave him my second piece of chocolate. Can you feel the love all around today? By the way, all of the above mentioned coworkers and postal employees are happily married. But that's how Valentine's Day truly should be - spreading a little cheer and a little chocolate, not just to your significant other, but to your friends as well. Actually, I think it should be the way it was in elementary school where you bring in a little valentine for everyone and everyone does the same thing and then you end up with dozens.
In a freakish twist of events that could only happen on Friday the 13th, a mere two hours after I had those very thoughts, the fire alarm went off. Needless to say I was entirely too flustered to do much of anything, let alone switch the phone setting. I was startled by the sudden ear-piercing sound but unsure as to whether they were just doing tests on the system or something. I looked up to see my nearest neighbor standing up and grabbing her coat. It was only then that I went to the closet, grabbed my coat, and as an afterthought, went back to my desk and grabbed my pocketbook. It was almost like I was so stunned by the incident that I couldn't think straight or move quickly. This may have been a problem if there had been an actual fire.
* * * * *
My valentines so far are as follows. The mailman reached into the candy bowl, pulled out a peppermint, handed it to me and said "happy valentine's day." A nice woman coworker came by and gave me two pieces of chocolate, one that said "you're cool" and one that said "be mine". I ate one of them immediately. Another coworker came by my desk and I picked up the peppermint given to me by the mailman, handed it to him and said "happy valentine's day." This afternoon a coworker gave me a piece of paper on which he had drawn a big heart and a smiling fish. Because he had given me a valentine, I gave him my second piece of chocolate. Can you feel the love all around today? By the way, all of the above mentioned coworkers and postal employees are happily married. But that's how Valentine's Day truly should be - spreading a little cheer and a little chocolate, not just to your significant other, but to your friends as well. Actually, I think it should be the way it was in elementary school where you bring in a little valentine for everyone and everyone does the same thing and then you end up with dozens.
