http://davidschrag.com/schrug/2009/03/28/good-samaritans-rescue-area-couple-from-sound-sleep/ David Schrag examines his navel and the world around it Sun, 22 Aug 2010 01:57:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 http://davidschrag.com/schrug/2009/03/28/good-samaritans-rescue-area-couple-from-sound-sleep/comment-page-1/#comment-883 david Sun, 29 Mar 2009 22:41:02 +0000 http://davidschrag.com/schrug/2009/03/28/good-samaritans-rescue-area-couple-from-sound-sleep/#comment-883 Yes, Mary. I am seriously complaining. I mean I'm trying to be light-hearted about it because I found it merely annoying, not dangerous. But if you want to take things seriously, I would argue that what these women did actually caused more harm than good. The hotel obviously had a carefully worked-out safety plan. By not following instructions, these woman could have caused chaos, and it is chaos that leads to death. I told my story later in the day to a firefighter who said that the best thing you can do when an alarm goes off in a modern downtown hotel is to stay in your room unless someone specifically tells you to leave. There are sprinkler systems to protect you from a fire, but there are no systems in place to prevent you from being trampled or pushed down the stairs during a mad dash for the exits. No systems, that is, other than the announcements that these women chose to ignore. I approve whole-heartedly of altruism, but not when practiced willy-nilly. Yes, Mary. I am seriously complaining. I mean I’m trying to be light-hearted about it because I found it merely annoying, not dangerous. But if you want to take things seriously, I would argue that what these women did actually caused more harm than good. The hotel obviously had a carefully worked-out safety plan. By not following instructions, these woman could have caused chaos, and it is chaos that leads to death. I told my story later in the day to a firefighter who said that the best thing you can do when an alarm goes off in a modern downtown hotel is to stay in your room unless someone specifically tells you to leave. There are sprinkler systems to protect you from a fire, but there are no systems in place to prevent you from being trampled or pushed down the stairs during a mad dash for the exits. No systems, that is, other than the announcements that these women chose to ignore. I approve whole-heartedly of altruism, but not when practiced willy-nilly.

]]> http://davidschrag.com/schrug/2009/03/28/good-samaritans-rescue-area-couple-from-sound-sleep/comment-page-1/#comment-881 Mary Sun, 29 Mar 2009 17:47:36 +0000 http://davidschrag.com/schrug/2009/03/28/good-samaritans-rescue-area-couple-from-sound-sleep/#comment-881 Is this guy seriously complaining that some ladies cared enough to knock on his door when they thought there was a fire??? The main reason people DIE in FIRES is because they don't take alarms seriously. Yes, in his case, it turned out to be a false alarm, thankfully, but the alternative was that he fall back asleep and possibly miss an evacuation order. Is this guy seriously complaining that some ladies cared enough to knock on his door when they thought there was a fire??? The main reason people DIE in FIRES is because they don’t take alarms seriously. Yes, in his case, it turned out to be a false alarm, thankfully, but the alternative was that he fall back asleep and possibly miss an evacuation order.

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