Okay, early today something kind of weird happened. I was in my dorm room in France, in my Pajamas preparing another blog post, when the fire alarm came on. My first thought was "It's a false alarm, I'll wait for it to stop" because for some reason, in Ireland we don't take fire alarms that seriously probably because almost all of the time they are false alarms or test runs. I do know, though that in other countries people do actually evacuate straight away which we probably should but it's just how we are used to.
So, I waited for a few minutes, trying to hear if anyone else was leaving, looking out my window to see if people were outside the building and waiting for the alarm to stop. When it didn't I decided to get dressed in case I did actually have to leave. Don't worry, it's not that we don't evacuate at all, we just wait and see if there is any chance it is an actual fire or if everyone else is leaving. After I got dressed, I thought if this is really a fire, what should I take with me. Now, we have all thought about this before. If your house was on fire, what would you save? At home, the answers is really easy.. my pets, but here, I don't have any pets so what do I take?
I actually took the most random stuff, well sort of. I really quickly threw my two naked palettes, my two O.P.I nail varnishes, the bobby brown makeup got the other day and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (my favourite and the only one I have here) in French in to my handbag. My planner and little notebook that I plan blog posts in were already in the bag and then I grabbed my watch and my ring which are of sentimental value.
I didn't take my laptop, my Nintendo DS or even my camera, I just thought expensive makeup and Harry Potter. I then left my room, went down three flights of stairs and into the lobby, where I saw lots of people waiting outside the front door. That was when the fire alarm stopped. It had been going for about ten minutes but it was only a false alarm.
When I got back to my room, I thought why did I choose these things to save?
I know that makeup is one of my favourite things in the world and what I spend most or all of my money on so I guess it makes sense that I took some of my favourite products or stuff that I just bought that was expensive. When I think about it though, why did I choose to save a french Harry Potter book which cost like €8 that I bought only the other day? I love all the Harry Potter books and movies but that was such an easily replaceable item that it just didn't make sense, as well as my planner and notebook :P
What do you think you would save if your house was on fire? Are they sentimental things or just expensive?
Also, how do you react when a fire alarm goes off? Do you instantly run from the building or try to figure out whats happening first? Leave a comment below :)
Picture taken from www.actionsecurity.ie
