Tales from the Bookstore

For some, the Cold War never ended

First, I have to rant about what a piece of crap our mall is. Seriously. Right now I will focus on the fire alarm because that has to do with this story. Last summer there was a fire in one of the department stores and our half of the mall filled with smoke. Did any sort of alarm go off? Was any one informed that there was a fire and people should think about leaving? Nope! The mall management was quite content to let people choke on the smoke as they wandered aimlessly around saying 'What's going on?' And the merchants had to stand around watching their merchandise get damaged by the smoke.

Today, one fire alarm goes off at our end of the mall. Is there a fire? Nope. Is there any reason this single alarm is going off in a continues loud beeping manner. Nope. Do people fix it right away? Nope.

So anyway, back to the main point of this tale. As the loud consistant beeping noise echoes throughout the mall, I at first don't know what it is. I meander out of the store and see a small alarm blinking and but two and two together. While I'm peering out a little old lady grabs me.

Little old lady: "Ma'am, do you know what that noise is?"

Me: "No ma'am, I don't really know but I think it might be the fire alarm."

Little old lady: "Oh, I thought the Russians were coming!"