i write sins, not tragedy

was happily surfing internet alone in my lab 2 days ago when the fire alarm starts ringing. very loud, very long. instinct told me dat this is not some stupid fire drills dat the jabatan keslamatan is notoriously known for. in record time, i managed to shut down the lab properly and lock all freezers (i even dismantled the cold centrifuge too!) before a breathless pak guard bounded up the stairs and asked me to evacuate. only a handful of post-grads from chemistry and biology school was working dat time and we grouped together in front of the building. the acrid smell of smoke assaulted our noses. before long, we can hear the wails of fire engines. the abang bombas sure do respond fast and we saw them entering the building full-suited (oxygen tanks, gas masks, head gears, axes...cool...) felt like it was a scene straight out from Third Watch.

-the red and blue lights were fire engines.bad pic.oh,the agony of having a vga camerafon-

well, what i really want to write is about the human nature. curious spectators, mostly students from the nearby hostels started to gather. if you minus the fire-engines, firemens, the usm security guards and the fact dat there is a smoking building, it looks as if a rock band is performing. more cars and motorbikes zoomed in the parking lot, more people were standing beside me and staring. some even have the nerve to say loudly dat they found it very exciting. i found all of them very repulsive. sheer curiosity on why they were there was what forced me to stand my ground (but inside i felt like want to terajang them and shout "what the bloody hell are you looking at?")

-the "curious" spectators.if you squint,you can see more than 20 people in this pic-

Sadist1: (to rerama)which floor burned?
Rerama: (pretending dumb)not sure.it was only a lab I think.
Sadist2: really?(pause…and which after determining that rerama can not know what really happened, added) the fire’s big you know.
Rerama: (acting dumber)owh….
Sadist3: yeah…that’s why the smoke was heavy.
Sadist1: (added excitedly) you can see the smoke even from outside usm.
Sadist2: it was someone doing experiment...(starts to ramble on and on about how a research lab can be a dangerous place and from what was being said, rerama suspected dat Sadist2 has never ever set foot inside a lab before).
-At this time, rerama was starting to get really,really f@#$ing annoyed and drop all pretense.
Rerama:owh...dat's how it really happened.the pak guard said only it was a short circuit when i was coming down the stairs.

there's some things money can't buy, and the realization (dat i'm from one of the labs) dawning on their faces....PRICELESS.....(heheh...pueh ati aku.)

it's appalling to know dat disasters and tragedies are what appealed most to us. like the accident on the road or the suicidal man on the rooftop...you can bet dat there will be a crowd watching. what do they want? stories of i-was-there-when-it-happened to tell? or maybe the satisfaction of thinking dat their lives are much more fortunate than the corpse by the road/houseless fire victims/the robbed makcik??? i'm not saying dat i'm an angel. yes, bad news in papers and vicious gossips about siti-dato'K or PM-Dr.M piqued my interest too. BUT... there is a limit. to sought and relish tragedies are different than you're coincidentally there when it happened.

a word to tragedy-seekers and busybodies out there....stop your morbid fascination and go find something happy to do lah.....