#463 A Day in Manhattan, KS

Today is the third of four days of a Principles of Real Estate course. It will be the last of the four day course. The class is going quite well. The students are attentive, asking appropriate questions and making the experience a good one.

At about 10:30 AM I'm really cookin', when there is a strange sound in the room. My immediate response is, "What the hell is that sound?" The answer I get, "The fire alarm." Okay, let's vacate the premises. I don't see nor smell any smoke. However, my memories of grade school fire drills recommend, "Get the hell out of the building." The students do just that, all but one. He happens to be an active duty Army officer and he stays with me while I disconnect my computer, pick up my iPod and Maryann's photo and then we vacate the premises. On our way outside folks from the hotel come running around the corner and head to our room. We, naturally ask them, "Where's the fire?" They say it was initiated in our conference room. They ask us if we smelled or saw any smoke. Our answer is no.

This evening, after class, I am in the bar enjoying a Black Russian when the Chief Cook and Bottle washer, David, comes in. He was one of the hotel staff who rushed to our end of the building during the morning's festivities. I ask him if they ever discovered the cause of the alarm. The answer is no. He also mentioned that when such an event occurs, most folks tend to ignore it. He was flabbergasted to come to our end of the building and find that all of the folks in our class were standing outside of the building. He said that never happens. He was quite pleased that we did vacate. Apparently we all remembered the fire drill lessons from grade school. The alarm rings and you quietly move outside. David was quite pleased to see that we took it seriously.

I subsequently learned that David will be leaving this area soon. All he has to do is sell his house, and he will move to the mountainous area of central or Eastern Oregon. He has helped make my visit to this hotel a more than memorable one. It has been quite pleasant. I also had the opportunity to tell him about the service we have received from the young woman who has the responsibility to insure that we have coffee, water and muffins and cookies. Prai is a delightful young woman who knows how to serve with integrity, care about those she serves and shares the love in her heart. My life is truly blessed to cross paths with folks like her. But, then, I seem to meet a lot of folks like her and David. Life is good. I hope yours is too.

#463