When panic is practiced and calm is optional
Do you remember that one scene from The Office where Dwight Schrute created a chaotic and realistic fire drill at Dunder Mifflin just because no one paid attention to his fire safety talk? No matter how many layers of stress everyone had to go through, he did make a point that experience is the teacher and an actual fire hazard may cause a heart attack. But did you actually think you would go through the same scenario on a random weekday, already exhausted from assessments and the looming midterms?
Just as the classes were winding down, the alarm went off. Not just any single beep that gets ignored; a pure full symphony of panic. Students being indecisive about whether to seem care or not while floor attendees appeared to be more amused than alarmed. In a clear attempt to guide to “safety”, the announcement instructed everyone to evacuate behind the multipurpose hall because apparently that’s where safety lives now and not outside campus. The fire service arrived faster than campus gossip, deserving full respect for their work even though it was to put out a fire which clearly had smokes from an uncertain origin but not the flames. A few staff members were fully committed to “injury” with bandaged heads and stretcher transport, while water spraying in every direction except the smoke because apparently fire is also a social construction. Condolences to those who actually took the drill to heart and fled the scene, perhaps the only sensible reaction.
Nonetheless the university might have forgotten about the students who were dedicating their lives to class at the facility tower. One might ask, “Did the drill really matter if all of the students weren’t involved?” A genuine fire is no joke regardless of how amazing the show is. Nobody was hurt except our shared understanding of what being prepared actually means. Because if a fire ever broke out, these small exits and all the mayhem won’t be humorous at all. It spreads quickly, no room for error and fills hallways with smoke. So maybe instead of staging chaos, it’s time to teach how to be calm in one.
