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Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Fire away

So we ended up getting a room on the 16th floor of a Hilton hotel. Yes we are flying quite high these days, what with the one income and all. All for less than the price of a motel 6. Thank you Priceline!! The view was simply amazing. I also had my wish of plenty of stairs to climb daily. We usually went to and from our hotel room an average of 4 times daily so I had all the exercise I could handle. Well, maybe a little more than I could handle since by the third day I could barely walk. I was o.k. if I was already going but just let me sit for a moment or sleep all night and it was enough to have me walking like night of the living dead for a minute or two until I limbered up.
So one night, Friday as I recall, I was enjoying a little cable t.v. (it is my hotel treat since I don't subscribe at home) and marveling that for the first night since we came here, the kids had both fallen asleep without a fight. They sleep wonderfully at home, but take them out of their beds at home and stuff them into one crowded room with us and for some reason they have a harder time going to sleep. My big baby was asleep as well, or snoring, rather. So I was settling in for a night of mind numbing television. Suddenly the fire alarm, which looks like the general fire alarm anyone has in their house, went off. Same annoying high pitched screech as well. I sat there for a few seconds trying to comprehend what was occurring and waiting for the situation to disappear. when that didn't happen I did the one thing that I thought seemed sane... I walked over, turned the t.v. off and stared blankly at the fire alarm (keep in mind it is around 1:00 am when all this is going on). Suddenly, Edgard, my hero, wakes and springs into action. I was amazed at how he just took control of the situation, punching every button on the alarm clock. I then tried to calmly explain to him that it was the fire alarm and that we needed to do something. (I was desperately clinging to the hope that I wouldn't have to wake the children who were still dreaming away) My husband then jumped over the bed in an amazing feat of gymnastics, especially considering he was still partially asleep, and attempted to rip the fire alarm off of the wall... I informed him that I was pretty sure that tampering with that was a felony and he seemed to wake up the rest of the way after that. I then had the brilliant idea to call the lobby and I was sure that I was the only one that was smart enough to think of this. I found out later, I wasn't. No one answered of course, and so I decided to check the hallway. Not a soul was out there but the alarm was going off there as well. I came back in and said "what do we do?" two times. I'm pretty sure that Edgard understood me the first time so the second time was just for effect, I guess. I went back into the hall and the lady in the adjoining room was timidly peaking out and that, unlike the fire alarm, decided me. I wasn't crazy after all, so we picked up the children, my purse, and Edgard's wallet and away we went. We went out into the stairwell with the rest of the rats abandoning the ship and we all were a surprisingly chipper in our various states of undress. Hotel evacuations, the great equalizer, melding the rich with the people who use priceline.
For the first time I didn't seem to notice how far sixteen flights were. So as we made our way out of the hotel and across the street, the only thing you could hear was shuffling feet and the occasional cough. I waited tensely as I listened for what I knew I would hear, the inevitable, the forthcoming, the thought that was in every person's mind..... And suddenly it was upon us....the Paris Hilton joke. After that was done, we waited for about fifteen minutes with no news. A Hilton employee then came and let everyone know that it was a false alarm. Back up the stairs, kids back in bed, husband snoring again...and I was too tired to watch t.v. after all. I guess that I shouldn't complain though. I could have been the lady that broke her ankle on the way out of the hotel. Well what the heck, I will complain a little. They didn't issue any explanation or even any room credit to anyone that night for the trouble it all caused. Oh well I guess that the Hilton's need every dollar they get right now for Paris Hilton's appeal. (sorry I couldn't resist)



2 comments:

  1. Wished I'd have been there...har, har, har! The least the Hilton could have done was treat you to a dinner out. I think we should protest! (No "FREE PARIS" signs, please...)

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