Excitement Aplenty--Too Much!

Such an exciting day at the office today.

First, there was a fire drill that wasn't a fire drill, but just a hot transformer of some sort in the conference room.

Then there was another fire drill that wasn't--it was just the test of the same transformer, and it didn't go well, I guess.

Then, they locked down the building. And they locked down the Police Department next door, and there was rumor of a shooter in the area, and everyone is flocking to the windows (they have a name--they are called TARGETS), to watch the State Troopers with rifles all around our building and theirs. They nabbed a couple of people and took them to the State Police building for questioning, but not before they stuck rifles in their faces and scared the bejesus out of them!

Then, the police called an all clear, while they were still searching the building. I left before they got to my floor, and stood outside with some of my office pals, who said that NO, the guy with a gun was INSIDE the building, and they were looking for him...so it was good that I got out when I did, I suppose.

I took a little walk to the pizza joint, sat down, shaking like a leaf, told everyone on Facebook, and then someone comes and says "No, it was a hoax."

Really? A hoax? They take my office buddy to the State Police building at gunpoint, and question her? On a hoax? I still don't believe it. As I've always said, the stuff you hear before the authorities get hold of it, is probably more true than what you read in the paper a few hours later.

And sure enough, Communications wrote us all an email that it was all contrived, and here's how it went down, and all this, but police don't stand outside their building with guns ready to shoot somebody if there's trouble for a 'maybe' thing.

When I got back to work, the troopers had gone inside, our doors were open, and I simply said "I don't feel safe here, anymore." There are lots of ways that a shooter could get into our building if he wanted to--not all doors are carded, and all they have to do is wait for someone to walk out, while they slip in. They have a guard only at the front of the building--the back and sides are, while not "completely" unprotected, it's enough that a bad guy could get in unperceived and take the elevator, and no one would ever know. None of us knows everyone, and with all the new positions in Information Technology--it's just not safe. Knowing this causes me to have concern about us all for tomorrow, when the State closes down for the holiday.

But if I happen to make it through tomorrow without incident, I'll be sure and blog so you all know that I lived through it.