OT -- Fire Drill!

[Uncle_Bob]

I apologize, Uncle Bob.

I admit that I only laugh at things that aren't really funny.

I still love my nephew, though, if that's OK.

My mother learned not to stand too close to walls her back is turned toward when she holds babies.

That's an important lesson, I think.

jeff

Yes go ahead and laugh and love your nephew, hopefully he has someone else as a good role model.

I hope your nephews school does not burn to the ground because the fire service is tied up responding to those hilarious false alarms. I'm sure you won't be laughing then. So you'll excuse me if I don't find them funny at all.

[DreamDiver]

Some kids are very curious, but have no concept of cause and effect - even at the age of 10. This same kid probably put her hand in the fire at an early age. These are - unfortunately - often the same kids who play in traffic, run with scissors, etc. It's funny on one level because if you don't laugh, well, you're going to cry.

Once I was told by a woman I'd been acquainted with for many years that her husband's toes were cut off when he was mowing the lawn. I responded by laughing. She blanched. I apologized and explained to her that I'd meant no disrespect toward her husband or her. I had just finished mowing my own lawn that same Saturday and similarly nearly cut my own toes off. If I didn't laugh - surely I was going to cry. Grown men are not 'allowed' to cry in public in the US. Left with no alternative, I laughed. Weird response - but there you have it. Nobody's toes deserve to be cut off just for mowing your lawn. Nobody's school deserves to burn down because the fire brigade went to an earlier false alarm.

But maybe it's okay to laugh at the innocent misunderstanding of cause and effect - especially in our clueless children. They don't stay that way very long - for one reason or the other. If you don't laugh - surely you're going to cry.

I think I'd rather laugh.

[Country4ever]

Uncle Bob...........chill! The adults didn't talk these little kids into pulling the alarms. Nobody was killed. Its one of those embarrassing things that happen, and you laugh at it later. I'm sure everyone involved knows its wrong to pull an alarm for the heck of it.
Just relax a little Bob.

[jnk]

. . . because the fire service is tied up responding . . .

You make an important point, Uncle Bob. And I'm glad you made it. You have been of great help to me in this forum on a number of occasions. And I appreciate it.

jeff

[Uncle_Bob]

Once I was told by a woman I'd been acquainted with for many years that her husband's toes were cut off when he was mowing the lawn. I responded by laughing. She blanched. I apologized and explained to her that I'd meant no disrespect toward her husband or her. I had just finished mowing my own lawn that same Saturday and similarly nearly cut my own toes off. If I didn't laugh - surely I was going to cry. Grown men are not 'allowed' to cry in public in the US. Left with no alternative, I laughed. Weird response - but there you have it. Nobody's toes deserve to be cut off just for mowing your lawn. Nobody's school deserves to burn down because the fire brigade went to an earlier false alarm.

But maybe it's okay to laugh at the innocent misunderstanding of cause and effect - especially in our clueless children. They don't stay that way very long - for one reason or the other. If you don't laugh - surely you're going to cry.

I think I'd rather laugh.

But if the woman I'd been acquainted with for many years had told you her son got killed in a fire at school because the fire brigade went to an earlier false alarm would you laugh ? ya know because your own kid set off a false alarm at school the other week and you thought it was funny?

I'd have no problems sharing a tear with her. But i guess we are all different.

[Uncle_Bob]

. . . because the fire service is tied up responding . . .

You make an important point, Uncle Bob. And I'm glad you made it. You have been of great help to me in this forum on a number of occasions. And I appreciate it.

jeff

Thankyou Jeff that's all I was trying to do. I guess its the influence of hanging around with a fire captain and other paramedics because they rarely come back from false alarms in fits of laughter.

[LinkC]

But if the woman I'd been acquainted with for many years had told you her son got killed in a fire at school because the fire brigade went to an earlier false alarm would you laugh

1. Yeah, with all those darn schools constantly bursting into flames I can see how this would be a major concern.
2. What are the odds of simultaneous calls to schools?
3. If there were, they'd already be suited up and on the road. Odds are good it would take LESS time to respond to the "real" call.
4. Places with REAL Fire Departments have the capability to handle more than one call.
5. And they conduct their OWN drills and realistic hands-on training. Do you think they notify the whole city that they can't have a fire during training?
6. Did you honestly believe EVERYTHING they told you in school? Even the stuff they made up just to make an impression on you? And, more importantly, do you STILL believe it? (psssst...there is no "boogey-man" in the Teacher's Lounge!)

[kteague]

I tend to find humor in the unexpected, inappropriate, innocent and not-so-innocent things little ones do. Of course the behind-the-scenes laughter wouldn't be be there if a crisis had resulted, and I am mindful not to let them see me laugh as of course I want them to learn acceptable behavior. I guess we all interpret circumstances thru the lens of our life exposures, and an up close knowledge of the sobering what-ifs of some topics trump any humor. I personally have low tolerance for people joking about their close calls while driving distractedly or under the influence. But kids' mess ups I can chuckle about. It's an "I can't believe they did that" laugh, not at the act itself being funny.

[DreamDiver]

But if the woman I'd been acquainted with for many years had told you her son got killed in a fire at school because the fire brigade went to an earlier false alarm would you laugh ? ya know because your own kid set off a false alarm at school the other week and you thought it was funny?

I'd have no problems sharing a tear with her. But i guess we are all different.

This seems to have struck a very personal chord - something of which I had no intention. I sincerely apologize if what I said has offended you.

I've been the kid who did something embarrassigly-life-threateningly dumb. My dad laughed - tentatively - after he saw I was going to be alright - on the way to the emergency room - on more than one occasion. I have many scars to prove it. But I have not been the parent whose child has done something similarly life threatening. I certainly could never be an emt, because I don't have the reserve energy or the adrenalin. I admit - I sometimes find my own behavior shocking - as with the woman's husband's toes cut off. It really wasn't appropriate, and I recognize that - and yet it came, unbidden - also embarrassing but true.

I greatly value your opinion Uncle_Bob. I hope we can agree that there are differences of opinion as to what is inappropriate behavior in various close-call situations. We are all made differently. It is unfortunate that in some future close-calls, I may most likely laugh, again as more as an automatic 'self-defense' mechanism, regardless of whether I want to or not. I cannot say that will always be the case, because I have not had your life experiences.