Are you scared of the fire alarm?

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OMG yes!! I hate it!

I'm not afraid of them but I do hate them. Especially the newer ones. Until half way through high school, I dealt with alarms that sounded like class bells and while they weren't pleasant they are much more bearable then the loud, high pitched things I have to deal with now.

I was in Science class on Thursday, spinning around in my chair kinda doing work in a daze, when suddenly:

RIIIIIIIIING INSERT FIRE ALARM NOISES HERE

"Fire drill, everyone!"

Couldn't I at least have a 30 minute warning?

Normally my sensory problems are quite mild, but sudden, unexpected loud noises are horrible. Both the fire alarm and the school bell (which is particularly loud at my school), when I am too close to it, frighten me so much that I find myself sitting hunched in a foetal position on the floor, sobbing, hands clamped hard over my ears. Nobody expects this because I only have 'moderate' Aspergers.

To me, fire alarms are little red boxes from hell

The combination of a shrieking loud buzzer with its unexpected entrance makes it one of my most feared objects. There's something about the sound which makes it very ominous too, like impending doom. My worst fear was it going off while on the toilet.

I've never heard one.

I hate fire alarms so, SO much, man.

Frist of all the fire dill is an obsolete thing like so many things in public schools. There is no business or any other organization outside of public schools that does this. It was more valid in a time when schools were multi storied wooden buildings with only one way out of the whole structure with lots of highly flammable material like cellulose for instance. Now schools also have a PA system, yes bells, klaxons and buzzers are from a time before the electronic age.

Hacking Schools
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h11u3vtcpaY[/youtube]

I don't really like fire alarms, but I don't hate them. I don't like how they're so loud and unpredictable, though.

Definitely. The fire alarms made my public school years a living hell, especially in grades 1-6, where many of my teachers didn't understand my fear, and high school, where we had the loudest fire alarms in the city (Simplex 4040s, if anyone is interested.) I even remember screaming like a little girl in high school when the alarms would go off, and then the other students would make fun of me!
Those electromechanical/"buzzer"-style fire alarms are the worst. Modern electronic fire alarm horn/strobes are a bit better, but still pretty loud (never had to deal with these until college.) No matter the alarm, it still feels like a bee sting or static electric shock in my ears when it first goes off

I sure wish my high school would replace their fire alarm system soon (installed in 1969), so no future generations have to suffer.

I wasn't scared of it, but it was extremely annoying. We have proper bells, and they're so loud! Plus a few are directly inside the classrooms. The worst part is, it's a really old system, so the bells malfunction sometimes, and the staff can't turn them off. The last time that happened the bell rung constantly for three hours.

(new from Washington state! I am a high schooler living in central Washington, formerly in Western WA forever)

Fire drills SCARED me in elementary school. We had these Simplex alarms that were straight out of 1990. When they went off, it would be a *loud*, continuous horn noise. I had to cover my ears and hold teacher's arms and hands for many years. I remember one time there was a fire drill in computer lab, I ripped off the headphones that were used for the computer I was assigned to and put them on as the horrible noise was blaring. Another time I was in a portable building during recess hanging out with the sp-ed aides (4th grade I think) - unexpected lunch fire alarm! The alarm in the portable was bigger, and was probably the loudest alarm I have ever heard in my *life*. Scared me to death.
They are called 2901s. The one in the portable was a *very* loud 4903 unit.
We also had some loud Simplexs in junior high as well. One time I was walking in the building - mind you this was 10 min before 1st period, and the alarm went off, straight in my ear!
Weirdly, the alarms in the last school district I was in (Monroe) did not scare me a bit at all. Why? Voice announcement and pretty darn quiet "code-3" alarm. Means it goes off 3 times and stops, another 3 times and stops, etc.

Anyways, alarms startle me now but I still have to plug my ears when I am within a few feet of one. At my current HS they get plenty loud within about 5 feet.