The Post About Standing Outside the Fire

These are 7 of my crazy great co-workers. Only one of them do I get to see every day because the rest work in other parts of the state. But discussions about our 401(K) and Flexible Spending Plans brought us together in Birmingham this week. Good times.

I took this picture when we were standing in the parking lot. We were forced there when our chat about restraints got interrupted by the sounds and sights of a fire alarm. First - yes, I am trained in restraining others, so beware. Second, very few good things come from a fire alarm. There are stairs and chilly standing and anxiety about what you left behind. But there are some nice things. At least one: Firefighters. And I must say, the Homewood firefighters seem to be doing a fine job in the serving-the-public and looking-lovely department.

When I was in college, I lived in Dickey Dorm (go ahead, think of all the ways that could be fun...). I lived with Jennifer and Angie quasi-lived with us on our couch. Our fire alarms got pulled 27 times while I lived there. And every time - you had to wake up, find a robe, and work your way out to the front yard and wait until they discovered that (shock) there was no fire. Jen and I grew tired of this dance, so one night we decided we wouldn't be obliging the University anymore and we were holding our ground the next time the bell started ringing. So the next time someone had too many jello shots and thought it would be "fun" to pull that red handle at 3:30am - we stayed put in solidarity against the machine. And by "stay put" I mean that Jen rolled over to the far wall of her top bunk and covered herself in blankets. I hopped in the closet and crawled inside my laundry basket. When funky cold Madina (our RA) opened the door to peer inside, all was well. We then returned to our cozy beds and slept soundly. We were trailblazers.