The 'flight or fight' response in humans, animals, birds, in fact almost all living creatures, is not a new phenomenon. Since time in memorial, when faced with danger we have had this in-built response to threatening situations, our mind recognises a danger and immediately floods our body with the various chemicals, adrenaline being the obvious one, necessary to give us the speed, strength and presence of mind to 'fight or flight', i.e. fight the danger or escape from it.
Not so it seems in some! Sure, there are those who have trained their minds and bodies to overcome the response, the feeling of panic and of having to 'get the hell out'. Emergency services personnel who's remit requires them to walk toward what the rest of us run from, armed forces personnel etc. etc. they have all had to learn to overcome and control their bodies natural response to threat, and with good reason......but then there are those, that sometimes I am sure, are just devoid of enough common sense to recognise a danger and consequently behave like complete fools!
I have been witness to this once before and again in a smaller way yesterday and it confounds me. Many years ago, in the late 70's, I was working in a West End department store that the IRA saw fit to bomb. Luckily on this occasion it was only a small incendiary device in a window space, but we didn't know that when the call
came through and it none the less resulted in serious injury for those in close proximity. Two aspects of the incident remain strong in my mind, the first was the almost overwhelming feeling of my body telling me to escape, to run, to do anything but remain where I was and the second was my incredulity at the stupidity of some others.
Whilst my job required that I remain in the building to evacuate customers and to help look for the device (yup, all sixteen years of me) there were those, that despite the threat, were so intent on making or completing their purchase that we had to argue with them to get them to leave the building!!
Yesterday I was reminded of this stupidity.
Mid morning at work the fire alarms sounded. I was on a break with a colleague, for a moment we considered if this was merely a drill but instantly recognised that
there are never drills in opening hours, the company is way too concerned about losing an hours trade to do that, and so we set about our evacuation procedure and left the building. Our location in the store meant that by virtue of the 'leave by the nearest exit' rule we were not involved in having to secure the building or evacuate customers and there was no apparently immediate threat to our safety but I was still aware of my flight or fight response beginning to kick in.Conversely, as we stood, shivering in the cold wind watching the evacuation it was patently obvious that some seemed not too perceive any threat whatsoever.
Never mind the usual fear of panic in a situation presenting danger, no, some of our customers were sauntering about and almost requiring a cattle prod to persuade them to leave with any degree of urgency! Whilst in that part of the building there was no immediate evidence of fire and so panic was not going to be the order of the day, did they have some inside information that there was no fire in a roof or wall space, that in a store full of flammable materials there would be no explosion? Has shopping become of such importance in some people's lives that they will risk their lives for a purchase, have they become so desensitized by today's graphic media images that their normal responses have declined or do some people merely have the I.Q. of a peanut rendering them completely stupid???
Furthermore, as the situation unfolded and the building was resplendent with screaming alarm system and fire tenders sporting blues and two's, it's staff all stood in the car park and obvious activity by the fire brigade.......potential customers were arriving, meandering up to the doorway, apparently oblivious and asking if they could be let in.....and then showing displeasure when told no!
As it was, the alarm had been triggered by a fault but one wonders, had there been 100 foot flames leaping from the roof whether some of these idiots would have noticed anything unusual at all?!
I accept that having been married to a fireman for years I am maybe more aware of the possibilities but hell, it's not rocket science is it.........
1 Comments:
Tossers!
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