Storytime

Let me tell you a story about a boy who cried wolf.

What's that?  You know this story? 

Well then, let me tell you a story about a school that sets off the fire alarm on a regular basis.

Once upon a time, when a certain young girl was in high school and younger, whenever she heard a fire alarm, she would quickly stop whatever she was doing and get outside. Sometimes, she would leave the building without even getting a coat.  In her elementary school, fire alarms were taken seriously and although there she never experienced having a real fire in the building, twice a school year the school would have drills.  The girl was taught to teach these warning bells with serious and quick reactions.  She learned this at home too. 

Then, the girl graduated and she went off to college. Little did she know of the changes that would take place.  Here, the fire alarms went off on a much more regular basis.  The girl took them seriously her first semester of school, exiting the building in a hurry and joining the group of girls that would congregate outside the building. 

Then one time, her second semester, she slept through the fire alarm (clearly, this was the result of serious exhaustion due to long hours of studying, due to the amount of homework she was given by each of her teachers).  No one checked on her, and her roommate wasn't present to wake her.  She awoke the next morning and learned of the fire alarm.  In this case, though, there had been a real (albeit very small) fire, in the water fountain downstairs (don't ask, nobody knows how that works). 

Then came her sophomore and junior year.  Little things set of these very touchy fire alarms and a microwave mishap would set them off easily.  The girl lived right near a doorway and after 4 false alarms in one semester, her behavior began to change. (This is where that initial story of the Boy who cried Wolf comes in handy). 

Now, the girl sometimes makes sure she has important things before leaving her room.

Her thought process has changed to this: "Oh, dang. Another fire. Well, I need my coat. Should I wear gloves? Mmm...maybe I should put my contacts in. Let me get some homework, who knows how long this will last. Oh! Food. I need food. And I should turn off my laptop. Oh. Maybe I should leave the dorm."  Eventually, she exits.

Now, if she didn't live right near an exit, perhaps she would leave a bit quicker.  But repetitive false alarms teach one to throw caution and old habits to the wind.

Moral of the story: (funny, it's the same as the moral of the Boy who cried Wolf) "Nobody believes a liar, even when they're telling the truth."

This story may or may not be entirely true. And I may or may not be pretty closely related to the girl in the story.

How close is pretty close, you ask?

Pretty darn.

P.S.  If you don't know the story of the Boy who cried Wolf: 

        1) shame on you.

        2) here's a link. go read it. 

                   http://www.storyarts.org/library/aesops/stories/boy.html

The End.