So the office building I work at almost burnt down today.

At least that's what my co-workers would have liked to happen. I've found that people are starving for excitement in their life so much to the point that they consider a minor electrical problem in the one of the air conditioning units something to freak out about. Let me start from the beginning.

I was sitting in my cubicle minding my business, and we started to hear the ventilation system sound like it was giving birth. It was giving birth to a smell that smelled of singed hair. People's heads started popping up like prairie dogs above their cubicle walls. People started whispering and talking about the smell. After the fire alarm started going off I guess that was the signal for some of the lady workers to start freaking out. The sound of the secretary's (I mean receptionist) voice came over the intercom. "Will all ACS employees exit the building!?" (This was repeated several time each time growing louder and more urgent.

One of the funny things about the whole bit was that the ladies were getting heated (no pun intended) about the fact that 911 dialed the first aid room in our office building rather than it calling the police/fire dept. They yelled about this one for awhile. People who were coming out of the building were talking about going back in the building to save someone, as if the whole building were going up in flames.

Standing out in the wet cold parking lot, we watched as two fire engines came. They used the ladder to go onto the roof and they were looking at the air conditioner unit for awhile. It seemed a poor climax to the whole ordeal. Everyone was talking about how if the place burned to the ground, they would lose this or that. What if this and what if that. I felt like it was year 1999 and the countdown was sounding towards the year 2000. People were waiting for darkness and anarchy to strike the second that clock struck 12. For some reason people fear calamity but want it at the same time. They lead lives of such boredom that they often times hope for the worst. Then maybe they will make the news since the worst is all the news focuses on. Nobody wants to hear how a kitten was saved from the tree. They want to hear how a whole family of kittens tragically fell out of a tree and were ran over by a dump truck, bless their hearts.

I was hustled out of the building as if the roof was going to cave in at any second as I heard multiple people asking others, 'are you ok?' No of course I'm not ok you idiot! I just walked out of a perfectly fine building into a parking lot. I need a second to collect myself from the trauma of it all. I think every guy dreams about saving that woman in distress and in the sexiest voice he can use he asks her "Are you alright?" while he extends his arm and helps her up off of the ground. Then they lock in a passionate embrace and make out the rest of the day or something like that.

I confess, I have enjoyed on occasion the thrill of a storm that knocks out the electricity. I have enjoyed a mother huddling everyone together away from the windows as candles are lit to be able to regain eyesight as the storm rages outside. It feels good to sit huddled under a blanket inside the confines of a safe haven while the howl of the wind and the rain on the windowsill lull you to sleep.

The office building didn't burn down. They shut off the alarm and we had to go back to work. I couldn't help but notice the disappointment on a lot of peoples' faces. I'm also looking forward to this being the topic of conversation tomorrow rather than who won last night's football game. I'd rather not hear about either, but at least the 'office almost burning down' will be something new for a change.