Fire Drill
I had a flashback this morning. The sound of my husband knocking on the bathroom door and yelling, "Let's go! We gotta leave!" as I was rushing through my shower, brought back a memory from my first year at college.
Back in 1985 I was still a VERY modest and shy person. (At that point, I hadn't had 2 hospital stays strip away the last of my modesty and dignity yet.) I was never one of those girls who could strip down at her gym locker in front of everyone else. I could never use one of the communal showers either. After gym class, I would apply liberal amounts of deodorant and wait until I got home to shower.
College? That was a whole new ball game. In the dorm, at least there were individual shower stalls with curtains fronted by a small changing area, also with curtains. I was relieved to have a modicum of privacy, but that still didn't make me 100% comfortable. I took my showers at off times, when I knew the bathroom would remain relatively empty. Why did I feel the need to do that? My soon-to-be EX roommate had no boundaries.
One day she came looking for me in the bathroom. I heard the outer curtain of the dressing area open and just had time to turn my body away before she stuck her head into my shower stall to ask me a question. She was completely nonchalant and I finally cried "Missy!!!" and she realized that I was frantically trying to hide my girlie parts. She got that evil look on her face and laughed about my shyness. SHE was one of those former cheerleader types that had total confidence in her body and would probably strip nude in front of her gym locker with nary a thought.
Yeah. So I started showering at off times. That plan was working rather well until one evening in February.
It was just after the dinner hour and most of the girls were busy in their rooms doing...stuff. That left the bathroom relatively deserted except for the occasional flush of the toilets. I had the showers all to myself and had worked my hair into a solid lather. Then I started to lather up my body... (I would do all my rinsing at the same time to give the conditioners in my 2-in-1 shampoo time to work.)
Suddenly the lights went out. The blackness was followed by the piercing scream of the FIRE ALARM and then the emergency lighting system clicked on. HOLY CRAP! The fire alarm????
I was frozen with indecision and covered with soap. What to do? I decided I could very quickly finish washing and rinse REALLY fast then run back to the dorm room and put my parka on over my robe. It was FEBRUARY in Massachusetts...it was fricken FREEZING outside with the ground covered with snow. So I shifted into high gear.
As I was getting the rest of the lather out of my hair, someone pounded on the bathroom door. I screeched, "Just a minute!!" Seconds later I heard a male voice yell into the room; "Fire Department! I'm coming in!"
Oh fudge! That was probably the fastest I'd ever moved in my life. I threw my robe on and wrapped my hair in a towel just as a hand drew aside the curtain to the dressing area. I suppressed a scream as a heavily gloved hand appeared in the doorway and motioned for me to come out and a stern voice said, "Miss - there could be a fire in the building. You've got to evacuate right now!"
I slid on my slippers and peeked out at the fire fighter. "Come on Miss, let's move it!" I asked him if I could stop in my dorm room for my coat, but he said no. So I followed him down the stairs and out the front door of the dorm. I remember being thankful to my Mother for the really ugly yellow fleece full length robe she'd bought me to take to school. The neck and cuffs were stretchy ribbed rainbow striped fabric that fit snug and it was rather like wearing a mock turtle neck when you pulled the zipper all the way up. Which I did do.
As I got outside I heard whistles and girls yelling things to me from the crowd of them standing in the parking lot. "Hey Beckster! You got a hot one! Woo woo! Way to go! Did he see your goodies?!" And so on. I was beet red! Turns out it was a false alarm (but the heat from my face probably could have ignited a four alarm blaze.)
I never felt the cold outside. Not sure if it was the robe or the flames of embarrassment that kept me warm. Regardless...when the all-clear signal was given and we headed inside, I caught sight of my EX roommate whispering to her new side kick and looking in my direction with that EVIL look on her face.
To this day I wonder if she was the one who pulled the alarm. My NEW room mate told me the fire fighter who escorted me outside WAS really really good looking. Sadly, I was too mortified to notice.
See what happens when you rush me in the shower, Honey? Ouch, the traumatic memories!
So why were we in such a hurry today? Turns out I was WRONG about the date of Tyler's consultation with the specialist. It was today. We got the hoped for results. Ty will just have to have a follow up ultra sound in 3 months. The doctor says there is a good possibility that this dilation will just resolve itself on it's own. We hope! Keep your fingers crossed, y'all. He's not totally out of the woods yet.
Back in 1985 I was still a VERY modest and shy person. (At that point, I hadn't had 2 hospital stays strip away the last of my modesty and dignity yet.) I was never one of those girls who could strip down at her gym locker in front of everyone else. I could never use one of the communal showers either. After gym class, I would apply liberal amounts of deodorant and wait until I got home to shower.
College? That was a whole new ball game. In the dorm, at least there were individual shower stalls with curtains fronted by a small changing area, also with curtains. I was relieved to have a modicum of privacy, but that still didn't make me 100% comfortable. I took my showers at off times, when I knew the bathroom would remain relatively empty. Why did I feel the need to do that? My soon-to-be EX roommate had no boundaries.
One day she came looking for me in the bathroom. I heard the outer curtain of the dressing area open and just had time to turn my body away before she stuck her head into my shower stall to ask me a question. She was completely nonchalant and I finally cried "Missy!!!" and she realized that I was frantically trying to hide my girlie parts. She got that evil look on her face and laughed about my shyness. SHE was one of those former cheerleader types that had total confidence in her body and would probably strip nude in front of her gym locker with nary a thought.Yeah. So I started showering at off times. That plan was working rather well until one evening in February.
It was just after the dinner hour and most of the girls were busy in their rooms doing...stuff. That left the bathroom relatively deserted except for the occasional flush of the toilets. I had the showers all to myself and had worked my hair into a solid lather. Then I started to lather up my body... (I would do all my rinsing at the same time to give the conditioners in my 2-in-1 shampoo time to work.)
Suddenly the lights went out. The blackness was followed by the piercing scream of the FIRE ALARM and then the emergency lighting system clicked on. HOLY CRAP! The fire alarm????
I was frozen with indecision and covered with soap. What to do? I decided I could very quickly finish washing and rinse REALLY fast then run back to the dorm room and put my parka on over my robe. It was FEBRUARY in Massachusetts...it was fricken FREEZING outside with the ground covered with snow. So I shifted into high gear.
As I was getting the rest of the lather out of my hair, someone pounded on the bathroom door. I screeched, "Just a minute!!" Seconds later I heard a male voice yell into the room; "Fire Department! I'm coming in!"
Oh fudge! That was probably the fastest I'd ever moved in my life. I threw my robe on and wrapped my hair in a towel just as a hand drew aside the curtain to the dressing area. I suppressed a scream as a heavily gloved hand appeared in the doorway and motioned for me to come out and a stern voice said, "Miss - there could be a fire in the building. You've got to evacuate right now!"
I slid on my slippers and peeked out at the fire fighter. "Come on Miss, let's move it!" I asked him if I could stop in my dorm room for my coat, but he said no. So I followed him down the stairs and out the front door of the dorm. I remember being thankful to my Mother for the really ugly yellow fleece full length robe she'd bought me to take to school. The neck and cuffs were stretchy ribbed rainbow striped fabric that fit snug and it was rather like wearing a mock turtle neck when you pulled the zipper all the way up. Which I did do.
As I got outside I heard whistles and girls yelling things to me from the crowd of them standing in the parking lot. "Hey Beckster! You got a hot one! Woo woo! Way to go! Did he see your goodies?!" And so on. I was beet red! Turns out it was a false alarm (but the heat from my face probably could have ignited a four alarm blaze.)
I never felt the cold outside. Not sure if it was the robe or the flames of embarrassment that kept me warm. Regardless...when the all-clear signal was given and we headed inside, I caught sight of my EX roommate whispering to her new side kick and looking in my direction with that EVIL look on her face.
To this day I wonder if she was the one who pulled the alarm. My NEW room mate told me the fire fighter who escorted me outside WAS really really good looking. Sadly, I was too mortified to notice.
See what happens when you rush me in the shower, Honey? Ouch, the traumatic memories!
So why were we in such a hurry today? Turns out I was WRONG about the date of Tyler's consultation with the specialist. It was today. We got the hoped for results. Ty will just have to have a follow up ultra sound in 3 months. The doctor says there is a good possibility that this dilation will just resolve itself on it's own. We hope! Keep your fingers crossed, y'all. He's not totally out of the woods yet.
Comments
Aweful to have a roommate who would do that. I had a similar experience at camp once, and still get hot-with embarrasment and anger-when I think about it. Margo