Sirens Produce Interrupted Sleep

I was in a coma-like sleep---you know the kind in which you are dreaming and hear outside noises but your body is not responding to the stimuli? In this case, the noises were sirens and they were very, very close. Usually I sleep right through the helicopters and sirens because I live near SSM Hospital. As I said, these sirens were very, very close.

The flashing red and blue lights, dancing across my closed eyes, is what woke me. I stumbled into a pair of loafers, grabbed my flashlight, and headed out to my balcony. There, three buildings to the East in the 72xx block of West Park Ave, I saw the smoke rising from a back porch.

About six firemen, some with axes, were whacking away at the smoking posts and steps of the back porch of a four-family flat. Underneath the porch was a barbecue grill---could this be the cause of the fire? Could someone have been that stupid to put a hot grill underneath a wooden porch?

One of the firemen found a garden hose and turned on the water. Soon the smoldering pile of wood was doused. The fire was out. Several policemen with flashlights moved between the buildings and the alley---looking for clues or the culprit who started the fire? One of the firemen put yellow caution tape across the missing steps at the rear of the porch. Finally, one of the landlord's sons showed up as everything was returning to normal.

Suddenly it hit me: the only spectator at this event was me! Have we become so callous and stoned on reality t.v. that we do not even come outside to investigate the commotion that sirens and flashing lights make? Are we so dependent on others that we do not even take action except to dial 911?

The whole scene (grill under a wooden porch, no other spectators) reminded me of the epitaph I saw recently on a gravestone which could be the saying for our current culture: "Born stupid, died dumb". Thank goodness for our and who remain ever vigilant.