MY FIRST... FIRE ALARM

Everyday for me is full of firsts. My first subway ride to work, my first trip to the grocery store, my first international cell phone number, my first friend. Tonight I experienced my first fire alarm.

I was laying in bed catching up on some work when suddenly the fire alarm goes off. Typical me, rather than quickly grabbing my most important belongings and running down the fire escape, I waited a couple of minutes to see if it was a false alarm. I have become quite lazy when it comes to my personal safety. The fire alarm didn't stop ringing after a couple of minutes, so I put on my shoes and my jacket and grabbed my cell phone. As I approached the door to the fire escape, the alarm went off. So I headed back to my apartment, took off my jacket and shoes and went back to bed.

As soon as I got into bed, I heard several fire trucks outside. To be safe, I decided to go downstairs. Since the alarm was off, I figured it was safe to use the elevator. WRONG! As soon the elevator opened on the ground floor, I was greeted by 10 firemen who looked at me like I was crazy. I guess the procedure where the fireman turns off the alarm once it's okay to return to your apartment is a US practice, not a Hong Kong practice. Here (or at least in my building), they sound the alarm for a period of time to let tenants know that they should exit the building.

Long story short, there was a small fire on the 2nd floor of our apartment building. No one was injured and I am back in my cozy bed posting this blog.

I re-learned a couple of important safety procedures tonight. For now on, I will not take an elevator when a fire alarm has sounded or shortly thereafter. I also now know that an alarm that has been turned off in Hong Kong doesn't mean it's safe to return to your abode.