When people ask “How your weekend was?”, they usually expect a normal response like: “It was okay”, but when people started to ask me, I really don't think they expected my answer. On Saturday, exactly at 4:00 pm my house caught on fire. How? Well, let me just say, I have not so bright neighbors who decided to leave their stove on and walk out. So let me just tell you how it all started. I was home alone and in my bedroom watching a movie, when I smelled something burning. I looked out of my bedroom balcony (which by the way was on the 3rd story) and saw smoke coming out of my neighbors window. At first I thought they burnt some food and what not, but later the smell got worse. After 10 mins or so, I was on my way to neighbors to check if everything was alright, and just when I opened my bedroom door, it was all smoke. I live in a town house, so in a way my neighbors’ house and mine are connected. It was pitch black and the smoke had already engulfed my house. I ran back inside my bedroom and into the balcony . People started to scream and the firefighters came. I tried to find my phone which I later remembered was left downstairs on the kitchen table. Some people even suggested for me to jump! I mean did they think I was Spider man or something?! I was on the 3rd story and jumping from it would defiantly mean that I was going to break more then one bone . Just as I thought all hope was lost, a firefighter came and told me to get on the ladder he was putting up. I first hesitated, I mean your expecting a person who is scared of heights, to climb over her balcony fence and onto a ladder that seems not trust worthy to hold my weight? I don't think so. But in the end I didn't have a choice. So I somehow made my way down the ladder and back to safety. Luckily after 2 hours of standing in the cold with nothing but pajamas and no shoes on, everything was over and no one was hurt. But the worst part was yet to com. The most terrorizing part of the whole experience was not the fire but it was explaining to my parents what happened to our house when they came home from work. A few minutes later after everyone left, my parents finally came home or what WAS their home to be welcomed by a beautiful mess. Luckily, my house wasn't damaged as much I thought it would be, and only a part of the ceiling broke off but even after explaining , I really don't think my parents are ever going to leave me home alone......ever, even though it was not my fault! So how does this all relate to culture ? As, Mrs.Lober said, culture is all around us. Later that night, I started to think about India and what would happen if this fire occurred there. The firefighters probably would have come after the whole thing was over or even if they came at the peak of fire, it would have taken them hours to put it out. I started to realize how much the American culture values safety of the people, and time. They get things done fast and don't waste any precious time. They also value the peoples life and make sure that no one is hurt.
No comments:
Post a Comment