Alarming Parenting Tactics

My friends and I are on voice chat while playing a game together. All of a sudden, a siren is blaring through one of the mics.

Friend #1: “That’s the fire alarm. I’ve got to go.”

He disconnects immediately and we wait to hear from him.

Friend #2: “So he’s, what, doing a Masters, then?”

Friend #3: “I guess so.”

Me: “He is? How’d you tell?”

Friend #4: “Well, he’s in halls, yeah?”

Friend #2: “Yeah, he had to leave for the alarm.”

Me: “But it’s a fire alarm. Wouldn’t you have to leave, anyway?”

Friend #2: “Nah. At home y’know it’s only set off if you’ve burnt your food like an idiot.”

Friend #3: “Pretty much.”

Friend #4: “Where do you live that you’d have to leave for it?”

Me: *Laughing nervously* “Where my dad will press the button to set it off and time how long it takes us to react.”

Friend #2: “Dear God.” *Laughs*

Friend #3: *Shocked* “Your dad makes you do fire drills?”

Me: “Yeah, it’s kinda annoying, every few months or so whenever he feels like it.”

Friend #2: “Even so, that’s crazy.”

Me: “Is that… Is that not normal?”

Friend #3: “Nope, not really.”

Friend #4: “My dad never did that with us.”

Friend #2: “Yeah, never heard of that before.”

[Friend #1] returned shortly after this conversation, and thankfully, it wasn’t anything serious. That said, I’m more than a little concerned about how relaxed everyone was about fire alarms.

For the record, I’d be less annoyed if our home “fire drills” were done properly. The fire alarm’s at the foot of the stairs, and my dad stands there until he’s seen us three kids have responded enough to be visible from where he’s stood, and then everyone goes back to what they were doing. Very annoying to have come down the stairs and wait for minutes while the alarm is blaring in my ears, not allowed to just go open my sisters’ bedroom door and yell at them to move already because Dad wants to let them “dig their own grave” and when they eventually arrive yell about how they’d have burned to death by now.