Thursday, May 05, 2005

Boring when I thought it would be fun

We had an Employee Safety Fair today. It was not boring. It was spectacular, and I'm not just saying that because Kathy organized it and she reads my blog. We got a free hot dog and chips and an extra half hour for our lunch break, and there was disaster relief, shoes for walking on ice, drunk goggles and a roulette wheel (I won a City of Burnaby pin!)

But the big draw was YOU GET TO SPRAY A FIRE EXTINGUISHER!!!! I was so excited about this. I was never one of those kids who ripped the fire extinguisher off the wall at school. I have never used my wee little extinguishers at home. AND THERE WAS GOING TO BE A REAL, FULL-SIZE FIRE EXTINGUISHER, AND A FIREMAN TO SHOW US HOW TO USE IT!!! So we got there and looked at the displays and ate our safety fair hot dogs, cooked safely and served safely. They even gave us sunscreen towelettes for sitting outside at lunchtime.

So I saved the fire extinguisher for after lunch - best for last you know. I envisioned a furious spray of high pressure flame retardant spewing from the writhing nozzle, and helpful firefighters bracing me so it did not propel me out of the parking lot. It was going to be so exciting!!!

Well, it wasn't like that. It was a big extinguisher, and a large firefighter, but discharging it was more like kicking a puffball than spraying the heck out of an inferno. The stuff that came out reminded me of the theatrical smoke that they use in plays, not a high-powered stream that could knock over a Volkswagen.

Oh well. Sometimes things aren't like you think they will be.

At least the Safety Fair was good. I'll take a miss on the hot dog next time.

question: I wonder if they'll let me try a real fire hose some time?

mompoet - exploring my masculine side

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