Short on time earlier today1, I popped over the road into my institute’s staff and patient canteen to buy something for a working lunch at my desk. In doing so, I noticed for the first time that the canteen staff have symbols on their ID badges that allow them to use the city’s disaster response routes.
So, rest assured that if you’re in Vancouver when The Big One hits, you’ll still be able to get your crappy sandwiches, boring salads, and muffins that are erroneously labelled as “double chocolate” (“double baked” would have been more accurate – I almost broke a tooth).
“10 boxes of egg salad on white bread to Sector 3, stat! Hurry man, there’s no time to lose!”
1 Before anyone says anything along the lines of “what are you doing on here then”, I’m waiting for the next draft of the grant that’s due tomorrow. Should be here by 3.30.
lol. I have that on my badge too.
When we were planing for a new building we had to list all the equipment in our labs and the sorts of sockets they were plugged in. I quickly noticed the coffee machine was plugged into an emergency back up socket and insisted that it be put on the list as such. Still as far as I’m aware no one noticed, so it will be going on emergency back up in the new place. Well obviously!
Good point, I’m adding a muffin to my disaster preparedness kit now, and James it’s an emergency if I don’t get my coffee first thing. Mmmmm….double chocolate.
I have that on my badge too.
Really? But, why?! Are you in charge of the coffee machine?
(4.10 pm and still no new grant draft, BTW)
“I’m adding a muffin to my disaster preparedness kit now”
I’ll send you one of ours, they probably last as long as most canned goods.
That solves a mystery I have been scratching my head about ever since I got here… the coolest thing? I have that symbol on my ID badge 🙂 Reassuring to know in case there’s any emergency molecular biology needed during “the big one”.
But WHY??!!
I want my own symbol now. What if there’s an earthquake during grant deadline week, eh?
Long story:
I was vacationing in Holland (read: on the internet at my parents’ house) during the blackout of 2003. It was breaking news on Dutch TV. My dad said: “Something is going on in Toronto. No electricity there, or in New York, or Chicago”. So I called the lab in T.O. from my parent’s phone (they have cheap long distance) and asked them WTF was going on. They didn’t really know! I was the one who had internet and TV, and I told them it wasn’t just the block, or even just downtown Toronto – it was HUGE. While on the phone, I suddenly heard some mild victory cheers in the background. “What happened? Did it come back on?” “No, we put the radio on emergency power so we can hear the news!” “Isn’t the emergency power meant for keeping patients alive and cell stocks frozen?” “Yes”. And I bet every single lab in the hospital plugged their radio into the emergency power…
Well, given Toronto’s tendency to be at the epicentre of such disasters (see also: SARS), maybe they should provide all citizens with those clockwork radios?
I hope all your cell stocks survived…