Hearing voices

Once in a while there is a nagging voice that tells me things. If it is my wife I ignore it at my peril.

Other little voices that pester me are my children. I can't easily ignore them due to their volume approaching that of a Pneumatic hammer and when they use phrases like "whoops", "I didn't mean to", "It's ok, I'll just get a towel" and "Holy SH*#!".

But the voice that I can successfully ignore is that one that predicts the future.

This week I had some traveling to do. My accommodations were transient apartments which in theme are like a well maintained hostel.

I had an evening without chores. No cleaning, programming, or re-applying children to their beds ad-nauseum. And so I started watching a movie.

I used my laptop since I could plug in my headphones. As I did the little voice said "You'll regret this. Something will happen that requires you to listen and you won't be able to hear." I dismissed the paranoid nanny in my head and began watching.

Half an hour into the movie I heard stomping feet. Nothing new to hostel-style living spaces. Then I heard shouting. That only made me glad I had my headphones in. Then I heard the fire alarm.

Have you ever noticed that we tend to stop and look with imbecilic expressions at emergency warnings. Instead of driving us into action we assume the posture that is found in Pompeii ruins. I can only expect that if we could see those faces better they would call out to us "Huh?" from across the centuries.

Realizing this wasn't a drill I jumped into my shoes and walked to the exit. This was when the announcement "Fire in apartment 1" was given. Great, I'm in apartment 2 and this is how I die.

I checked the door and it wasn't hot. I could then make my way down the hall and outside. I was greeted by -30 degree centigrade air. I stood outside the front entrance waiting for the others to arrive. No one did.

It then occurred to me that I was in jeans, a t-shirt, sneakers and holding a laptop. No parka. No wallet. I am a geek even in emergencies.

I realized that I would probably be the only one with firefighting training, and that there were probably people still inside. With no visible signs of fire or smoke I made my way cautiously inside and called for the others. They responded that the fire was a stove top burn and was put out.

My lesson in all this. It's probably better to be paranoid weirdo than ignore that quiet voice. And step 1 in an emergency is 'Don't look stupid'