Smoke alarms suck! They wake you in the middle of the night and are just plain annoying. Just like pain. They waste money, too. Some are wired to the fire department so when they go off, a whole crew has to roll to your house. I once met with the mayor and fire Marshall and offered my thoughts on how to save big money on the extra passengers on the fire trucks. Just send one guy and he can take the batteries out and stop the noise. They looked at me in stunned silence. That would be like taking a painkiller without addressing the reason your body alarm had sounded, they said. We bring the crew to put the damn fire out. The fire caused the alarm to sound, that’s the problem, the fire, not the noise. Geez. Lesson learned.
Trying to redeem myself, I offered further insight. So once you courageously rush in where others would rush out, to quell the flames that would have destroyed my home and it’s belongings, and god forbid, my family, then we can go back to living as usual.
Again with the look of indignation. Ok, Einstein, here’s how it works. Once the fire is out, you can’t just move right in like nothing happened. The windows were smashed, we cut holes in the walls looking for hidden flames, and your stuff is wet, burned, smoky, or all of the above. You need to do some heavy cleaning and repairs. It’s like when you get your adjustments just long enough to get relief but not enough to clean up the damage that was accumulating before the pain ever started sounding the alarm. Your boat might seem fixed, but you’re taking on water.