C-Emrys

so many of you have never been 26 or 27. well one day you will. this is not a threat this is a promise. or maybe both. it will be fine, is what i’m saying. and then comes 28

Wait what's a buildings fire evacuation plan if you aren't supposed to use the elevator to get down

You go down the stairwell/fire escape. Is that weird?

But what if you have a walker or a wheelchair??

in america at least, in this situation, there isnt one. either your loved ones or the firemen can get you out using the emergency fire escapes or stairs, or you die 

That's fucking horrific, thank you

“fun” little story:

last summer my friend who is an amazingly talented artist and i were in this super tall building, and she’s in a wheelchair and i’m pushing her around the room. it’s an art exhibit and some of her art was chosen to be showcased there and so it’s all fine and dandy until suddenly an alarm starts going off

a FIRE ALARM

everyone starts running for the stairs and my friend just looks at me with this forlorn look on her face

“i can’t go down the stairs”

but i’m a stubborn bitch “i’ll carry you”

“what about my chair? it’s too expensive for me to be able to get another one if i can’t get this one back”

“i’ll carry that too”

and i did. we went to the stairs (by then most people from our floor were gone) and i lifted her up in a fireman’s carry over my shoulder and then lifted her chair up and used the ridiculous amount of adrenaline that was coursing through my veins to make it down approximately 20 half-flights of stairs until we met some people exiting lower floors, one of which who kindly took the chair. I changed positions so i was holding my friend bridal-style which was, somehow, easier and the person who took her wheelchair (with her permission to handle it of course) accompanied me to the ground floor and then out the doors

basically there is no real protocol for people who can’t use the stairs in an emergency. it’s up to the people with them, if anyone, to help them or the person to somehow make it down the stairs alone, unassisted

thank fuck that it was just a faulty alarm system, because if i was unable to carry her down those stairs and the building was on fucking fire???? then i don’t know what would have happened to her, but i don’t think it would have been very good.

it’s fucking ridiculous and ableist to the absolute max.

I use a cane. When I did a day-long fire safety training at my northeast American university (UMass Amherst), I asked that exact same question: “what am I supposed to do if the fire alarm goes off and I’m in my lab on the twelfth floor?” 

the fire marshal hemmed and hawed for a while and then said to take the elevator- you’re supposed to leave it free for the fire department to use and they want able-bodied people out fast not waiting for elevators. if the fire alarm has just gone off the building probably hasn’t suffered enough structural damage to make using the elevator dangerous, and modern elevator wells are heavily reinforced. many large and high-trafficked buildings on my campus have fire rated elevators that link in with the fire alarm system so they won’t let you off on a floor with a possible fire. 

if the elevator isn’t working, wait in the stairwell and call the fire department to let them know where you are. modern stairwells are also heavily reinforced- it might not be pleasant but modern building code usually requires fire-resistant stairwell doors in office and big residential buildings, also to help firefighters get in and out safely. older buildings’ stairwells may or may not be retrofitted with fire-resistant doors but a stairwell is generally the safest place to wait if you can’t get out. 

what happened to your friend was horrible, and i’m very glad you were there to help her out, but you can absolutely use the elevator to evacuate if it’s not shut down. those don’t-use-the-elevator rules are for abled people.  

This is GOOD TO KNOW. why do they not tell people this??

Okay, firefighter here. If you are not physically able to use the stairs, and the elevator is NOT compromised, use the elevator. But you MUST be ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that the elevator is NOT compromised before you get into it, because there is always the chance that once you get into it, you may not exit it. Power could go out. The elevator may actually BE compromised and you just couldn’t tell from where you were until you were in there, and it suddenly shuts down on you. Something else could happen. 

Understand that once you enter the elevator, you could POTENTIALLY be taking your life into your hands there.

It is NOT LIKELY, to be perfectly honest. It’s only in a pretty catastrophic scenario - think the Twin Towers, USA, on September 11th - that the elevators will be compromised and out of service. But there is a NOT ZERO PERCENT CHANCE and you need to understand that and accept it.

As for leaving the elevators free for the firefighters, okay, here’s the deal. Unless your nearest fire station is literally right next door? Your first on scene fire truck is NOT likely to be there on scene and needing that elevator before you get to the ground. It takes us TIME to find the address, gear up, and drive to the building. Then we need to hoof it into where the elevators even ARE, so YOU HAVE TIME to use the elevator to get down to the ground floor... BUT ONLY IF THERE’S NOT A RUSH ON THE ELEVATOR! And THAT is WHY we don’t tell people this shit. That’s WHY we tell people to NEVER USE THE ELEVATOR... because every self-entitled asshole will use it because they don’t feel like walking, and then put YOU in danger by delaying the elevator’s arrival to you.

IF, however, the elevator IS compromised, or you just can’t get it to come for you, or whatever, and you either don’t have anyone with you who has the adrenaline fueled BALLS to be able to toss you over their shoulder and hoof it down the stairs with you - because, let’s face it, that is RARE AS FUCK, then HERE IS WHAT YOU DO:

You call 911 and tell the call taker that you are in the building that has a fire alarm going off, and you are not able to evacuate because of a physical disability, and you tell them what floor you are on, and EXACTLY what stairwell you are waiting at. And the very FIRST thing that the firefighters are going to do once they arrive, if it is, indeed, a REAL emergency, and not a false alarm, is come get your ass and bring you down. Whether that means carrying you down the stairs, or whether that means locking out the elevators so that no one else can override them and coming to get you themselves, they WILL come get you FIRST THING if it is a real event. And if it is a false alarm? You will probably be the first person who is not involved with the building to know, because the call-taker is going to stay on the line with you until you are under someone’s care and out of danger, or until the scene has been sorted out as real or false, and you are out of danger that way.

These are pretty standard operations in the fire service throughout the United States. There may be some minor variations based on specific municipalities, but, for the most part, this is pretty typical: LIFE BEFORE PROPERTY. So, as long as SOMEONE knows where you are - hence why you call 911 - Firefighters will come get you. You are NOT alone, and you have NOT been abandoned. I PROMISE. It’s like, our whole reason for doing the shit we do: to save lives and to break shit. Sometimes, we get lucky enough to do both at the same time.

High rise fires suck ass, and I always hated them. But the very FIRST thing I asked anytime we got one was if we had “any entrapments” - which is what we call anyone who could not self-evacuate for ANY reason. We ain’t leaving you behind. And yes, your friend who doesn’t have the stamina to carry you down can stay with you, too. Because I would never ask that of someone, honestly. 

Also, just a little FYI... MOST fire alarms are false alarms. Not to make anyone complacent or anything, but, yeah. Most of them are either system malfunctions, someone accidentally hit a pull station, or someone burned popcorn in a break room. So don’t let a fire alarm freak you out until you need it to - by smelling or seeing smoke or flames. 

i have had multiple nightmares about this very thing because NOBODY BOTHERS TO ACTUALLY TELL WHEELCHAIR USERS THIS STUFF

I also think that all the "um okay knives out & glass onion were good. Wrap it up now" posts are so funny. You're tripping if you think there's not going to be at least five Benoit Blanc films lol

What part of "the detective franchise is back babey" did you not get. There were 14 Poirot films and that's not counting the show which was a standard season for most of its run. 69 Columbo episodes. Like it or hate it you are going to be seeing Benoit Blanc until the day he stops making money and then some.

He hasn't even been on a train yet for fucks sake

HE HASN'T EVEN BEEN ON A TRAIN YET!!!!

ahhhhhh delicious schadenfreude

get ready everyone

Oh my God! 😭 You dropped this queen 👑

To think I thought I knew what ethereal beauty was before now. Laughable.

she’s so beautiful i had to include a few more photos

Her instagram is @queennyakimofficial !

Support Black Women!!! Support Black Womens Art!!! Support Dark Skinned Black Women!!! Support Dark Skinned Black Womens Art!!!

🖤🤎🖤🤎🖤🤎🖤🤎🖤🤎🖤🤎🖤🤎🖤

I’ve reblogged her before, but really, you can’t have too many dark-skinned Black queens on your dash. 

Tories: Here’s our plan to feed anyone under 25 years old into a wood chipper

Labour: Here’s our plan to be as transphobic as possible while also suspending every left-wing Black and Asian woman in the party

Reform: *constantly on telly*

Greens: *never on telly*

Lib Dems:

“He’s just been told he is not allowed any more goes.” (x)

why won’t sunak and starmer debate this man

The San Francisco Examiner, California, February 25, 1935

Sometimes I think humankind hasn’t changed at all. 

WHAT IS “DOES”?

The average man who gets enough sleep doesn’t write the sentence “What is “does”?“

Pregnancy runs in my family. Over half of my ancestors had it at some point.

The other big one is death. That runs in the family too. An overwhelming majority of my ancestors experienced death at some point in their lives.

Hot Shit | Tom Cardy

Okay not only is this a bop but it single handedly raised my self confidence

My 2 year old is OBSESSED with this song. When we first started listening to it they loved it, and then began requesting it by name. Except we never told them the name of the song, because it's called Hot Shit and we didn't want a baby demanding, "Mama, Hot Shit!!!"

So they made up their own name, based on a toddler's understanding of the lyrics:

"Mama, can we listen to

i think if you're going to complain about "problematic queer representation" in media you have to clarify what type of problematic you're talking about. is the bisexual character implied to be only "doing it for attention" or perpetuating homophobic stereotypes? yeah, you have a point, that's not great. is the lesbian "problematic" because she eats people? oh no that's fine, lesbians are allowed to do that if they want

i know how to identify all of the barksies now.

Is this on a separate axis or what

The thing they don't tell you about fried egg runny yolk is that if you put it in a sandwich it will be the best most delicious thing and you can mop up the egg with the bread, but in exchange you Will get so so messy and covered in egg yolk

The anti-car culture on this website is so fucking annoying. Like, sorry I want to be able to get around without having to spend two hours taking three buses. Sorry I want to be able to go grocery shopping in the winter without having to lug heavy bags home through the snow on a fucking bike

so you agree that getting around most american cities in a convenient and timely fashion is impossible without a car? that public transit is largely non-functional to the point that people are forced to decide whether to sacrifice significant chunks of time, energy, or straight up cash?

you agree that most american cities have been constructed in such a way that demands using a car? that those cities are incredibly hostile to people who don’t have a car?

it’s not “anti-car” culture, it’s anti “car-culture,” and it sounds like you think it fucking sucks, too.

(why did you spend actual, real life money on this?)

like, even in a developed society that’s not very dependent on cars, you’re going to need them to some extent. ambulances, fire engines, etc.

but have you ever noticed that - in a massively car-centric society - they have trouble getting around, even with sirens, preference over other cars, etc???

in a society where the vast majority of people get around using free, universal public transit, **the roads are free for the independent vehicles that really need to use them**

It’s 3 pm. You hear a knock at your door. You open it.

You think he was a real human being?

Guess again!

Or again!

Napoleon is a myth made up by big history to sell more history. Wake up, people!

I can’t tell if you’re joking or not, but tbh I’d still be less surprised to see even a fictional person than a centaur

@bunniesandbeheadings I owe you an apology bc I'm so used to Anti-Stratfordians that I can no longer tell when someone's being serious or being hilarious

I can’t even be mad. I’m just happy someone thinks I’m hilarious lol

Tho I do think Napoleon wasn’t real. He’s a myth! If you don’t believe me, check this link. It’ll convince you, I swear.

I hate it when I talk wistfully about the ancient world and then people are like “you wouldn’t survive back then” yeah obviously I would die immediately but do you think achilles would be able to survive in the modern world if he had to send one polite email? no

congrats to these people on being funnier than me on my own fucking post