We're having a demo/drill for the worst-case-scenario, a gunman on campus. There will be live shots fired (blanks, of course, but indoors it's dramatic). There will likely be fire alarms, screaming and yelling, policia in full-on bravado.
I understand the purpose of the drills, and I know they help ferret out problems in our security and response systems. I am fully aware that the scenario has been a reality at far too many schools, and I know it could happen here as well as anywhere else.
We have tornado drills here. Fire drills, too. Now school shooting drills. It's hard to find enough time to get our jobs done amidst all this drilling. Speaking of which, at another building I may head for to avoid this shooter drill, there is a good deal of drilling going on, too. In this case, it's jackhammers and cement saws and such, for that place is getting a facelift. Thank goodness I have headphones and music to retreat to when I'm grading!
Maybe we should have drills "in the event of" other things:
- everyone shows up for class on time (less likely than a tornado)
- everyone submits all work on time (even less likely than a gunman)
- people stop to help one another out (a giant comet is more likely to hit the earth)
- commuters intentionally park as far away as possible, for exercise and to be kind to others (c'mon!)
In the same way the calamity drills help us become sensitized, prepared, and teach us to anticipate the worst, maybe my drills would have the same effect on the lighter side, and as we drilled, so we might become punctual, efficient, and kind.
We often need to go beyond merely expecting something; we have to practice as-if scenarios. I propose we do this for the bad (of course) but also to anticipate the best.
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