THE UNEXPECTED - Myriad Musings

After all the morning hustling, fixing breakfast and then lunch, showering yourself and the kiddo, running a few loads of laundry and getting the house in place……and right when you think everything is under control and on schedule on a Monday morning, something unexpected happens: the building fire alarm goes on and that’s it …… !!

This was my situation past Monday, when after running all the morning errands, I was getting ready for my scheduled 10:15 a.m photo-session and the alarm went on at exactly two past ten. The protocol to such alarms is to keep your cool and wait on it for two minutes, and if the booming didn’t stop after those two minutes, then the enforcement of action plan began. Those two minutes of wait felt the longest: it felt as if someone was envious of my Monday morning productivity and was looking for any chance to break in the action continuum, by setting out the fire alarm at exactly 10:02 a.m ……seriously ???? But when the alarm continued blaring after two minutes, I had to move fast. I am glad I had already worn the shorts and the blouse, I just needed to throw on the jacket which BTW lay on the bed…..thanks to my pre-planning and organization. I quickly grabbed my shoes, bag, camera, house keys, make up which only included this lipstick, a rubber-band for tying my hair and Ribhya of course….and out the apartment door we went. After a fourteen flight and six minute descend, we were out on the lobby level: dizzy and frantic. The entourage of fire trucks, rescue squads and building neighbors outside the building was extensive, which definitely made me realize of the seriousness of the situation. There was an old convector in someone’s apartment, that due to some faulty wiring had caught a fire and had caused the alarm to go on. The fire marshalls were able to control that fire without any hitch and the building was rendered safe to enter in no time. Thanks to the timeliness and efficiency of Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Services.

But I feel blessed that we were safe and proud that I was equipped with an action plan and despite all the unexpected that could happen, I managed to pull off a photo-shoot……:) just pardon my unruly hair and no-foundation face.