Experiences From My Life: Volume 1

Hey, let's keep this going and make another new segment. This is just for you, because I like you best.

There are times in my life when interesting things happen. Sometimes. So, I figure I will retell some stories from my life in various posts titled "Experiences..." etc.

Firefighters. We all know them, we all love them. They are going to be the subject of this post, and my experience.

When I was a young lad, perhaps around 8 or 10 years old, my educational facility had enlisted a firefighter to visit for a very intellectual gathering. I believe they used to call such an occasion an "assembly." Basically, the point of this was to learn fire safety. No problem, it should be easy.

Well, to be honest I don't remember too much about the actual presentation or too much of the information given. In retrospect I probably should remember every single word verbatim, seeing as how it could potentially save my life one day... Regardless, once this selfless wild-flame-fighting man was finished with his verse of "fire safety" that he probably practiced for weeks only to be lost on the deaf ears of children, he graciously opened the floor to some Q&A.

I took this as my opportunity to ask my burning question. (PUN)

I raised my hand excitedly, sitting cross-legged on the cold hardwood floor surrounded by my intellectual peers and other classmates.  When the firefighter called on me I brilliantly asked a question that had been plaguing my eager mind since I learned about the method known as "Stop. Drop. Roll."

Allow me to interrupt my own recall for a moment if you will. For those unfamiliar with fire safety, if you ever notice that -- for whatever reason -- you have somehow burst into flames and are surrounded by a blazing inferno, the accepted steps to extinguishing the fire are to 1. Stop moving. 2. Drop to the ground. 3. Start rolling on said ground. It is EXTREMELY important that these steps be followed sequentially. Even one mistake can make all efforts fruitless.

Upon being called, I lowered my hand and asked, "When you stop, drop and roll... How fast do you roll?" The fireman chuckled slightly and asked why I would have such a question. I explained, "We know that fire will feed off of oxygen and increase in intensity. If one were to roll too quickly, it would potentially increase the supply of oxygen TO the fire, creating the reverse of the effect desired from the stop, drop, roll method."

Upon hearing my reasoning for the previous question, the fireman took a moment to ponder to himself. After he had exhausted the depths of fire safety knowledge he possessed, he looked me directly in the eyes and said three words: "I don't know."

I don't know.

Now I'll be honest, while I have personally never found myself in a situation where I have been either IN or ON fire (and I hope to keep my record relatively similar for the rest of my life) I do not assume I will be in the proper state of mind to experiment with the velocity of my rolling if the need arises.

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