Smokin' Hot

Here's a doozie for you.
Yesterday afternoon I had my daily argument with myself about going to the gym. Since I knew I was going to miss several days this week, I opted to drag my unwilling body over and push through. After arriving at the gym and getting in 8 whole minutes on the elliptical, we were casually asked to exit the gym because the fire alarm was going off. One could expect to be part of a fire drill in a public facility sometime in their life and I wrongly assumed this is what was taking place.
Upon rounding the corner, I was greeted by a growing cloud of repulsive white smoke making its way from the laundry room. In the short time it took to reach the top of the stairs, the foul smell and accompanying smoke was creeping out into the CNN Center Food Court. I was astounded to see that the none of the guests, employees or residentially challenged folks seemed fazed by the site of smoke billowing from the corner of the building!!! People continued to purchase (AND EAT!!!) their food with almost complete disregard for the whole situation.
The list of annoyances grew with every passing half-hour. The clear lack of emergency operating procedures, the inefficient response times, the ineffective methods of controlling the scene ... it was all just too much to take. After coming to grips with the fact that we weren't actually on an episode of Candid Camera, we waited. And waited. And waited.
FINALLY, we were allowed to sign a release and retrieve our belongings. I felt the need to have a photo op with the firemen who were just standing around, watching the big screen TV and waiting for the fans to do all the work. Who knew some burnt clothes/lint could cause such a dramatic scene? Thank you Turner Athletic club for a memorable Monday night.

Moral of the story: Clean your lint trap. That garbage is flammable!!!