Siren...

[Banish]

You know, everyday I hear a siren (mostly a ambulance or police) screaming across the road or off in the distance.

It is quite disturbing; everyday someone has to get hurt or bad.

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Mod edit: title

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Dhylec on 2007-06-05 18:40 ]</font>

[Skuda]

It's pretty much the same by my place too. My friends and I have dubbed it "the quota". We hear at least 1 siren each day.

[AlexCraig]

Same here. Mostly because this is the crappy end of my town. Lots of gangs in the area.

[Mystil]

Just summon Captian Planet.

Seriously though, it is sad and about all you can do is make sure you/your family is safe.

[xeku]

Funny you mention this....I was just thinking about how I mostly ignore these type of sounds, unless I am driving (so I can get out of the path of oncoming emergency vehicles).
Had to do so on the way home from work last night...
I wasn't much concerned about what was actually going wrong....just didn't want to get in the way, hoping it would end quickly so I could continue on my merry way.

Lovely, no?

Selfish?
Or desensitized?

A bit of both, most likely.

[DikkyRay]

eh....
Despite living in a populous city, i live in the boonies, so i rarely hear an ambulance/police/firetruck.
Where i used to live though....
Everyday i heard a siren and a freakin TRAIN go by.

[HAYABUSA-FMW-]

The sirens are for help/assistance on the way, so someone is getting help post-incident.

Its not like you have choppers and spotlights every day.

[Siertes]

I always wondered what kind of stories are behind every siren sound I hear. Unfortunately I was a part of one of those stories last week.

It really sucks that so many people just keep getting hurt on a regular basis.

[xeku]

Well to be honest, ...I used to see spotlights every night - growing up in South Sacramento during the late 80's early 90's. It was just a regular thing.

We had the occasional SWAT and canine unit run through the backyard...random people climbing your fences...that was always interesting....weird being told (ordered really) to hide out in your own home.
And sirens....not a good feeling back then....fear and dislike of the police (justified or not).
Someone coming to help you?
Yeah...when I'm f'in dead!.... - no, it's not entirely fair, but that was the prevailing attitude, and everyone knew someone that got punked by the police (if not yourself).

I had older friends with their own places at the time (and transportation), and one friend that lived out in a rented farm house, so we managed to keep out of trouble for the most part....by essentially fleeing the neighborhood and hanging out in the middle of nowhere (something I'll always be thankful for, as not everyone had someplace to escape too). Yeah, it smelled like fertilizer 24/7, but it was safe, and we could do whatever the hell we wanted (crappy garage band get-togethers), and not hurt anyone but ourselves.

Wasn't sad to leave that all behind, though things are considerably better nowadays (economic factors, really).
And really, it was all relatively tame, compared to some of the other neighborhoods.
Lower-income working class yes, but I lovingly referred to it as our "ghetto"....despite what outsiders thought of the place.

Have to admit though, it is awfully quiet in San Jose by comparison - been here a decade now, and it's a completely different universe, despite living in an ancient neighborhood, smack in the middle of down town.
Ok...wandering way off track here.

[Banish]

Really? I have been to San Jose and near this library, I hear at least 1 siren or more. Nothing bad else where, a bit - _ - old, yeah.

[omegapirate2k]

Up until university, I was living in the boonies OF the boonies, as in the middle of a forest, and never heard a siren once, in the entire time I lived there.

GO ME

[xeku]

Really? I have been to San Jose and near this library, I hear at least 1 siren or more. Nothing bad else where, a bit - _ - old, yeah.

I apologize for any confusion.
No, San Jose has it's share of noise, but it is quiet compared to South Sacramento (of my youth).

[HUnewearl_Meira]

This is just the way it is in cities. I grew up out in the country, where even in the event of an emergency (for the record, I have never seen an ambulance were I grew up-- completely foreign), there's really no need of a siren. On the rare occasion when I'd see an ambulance or a cop rushing off somewhere while on a trip to town, it was really exciting.

After I grew up and moved into town, I had no idea that sirens were so commonplace, and for the first few nights, it really caught my attention when I'd be drifting off to sleep, and hear that wailing off in the distance. The whole thing was a bit of a contrast really, because night was near to silence for me, up until that point. Where I grew up, you could go outside and shout at the top of your lungs, with a decent chance that noone would ever know. Here in town, you're likely to get a response.

After I got married, I moved to a larger city, and into a fairly dangerous area, no less. In addition to the sirens and flashing lights (which, all too often, were coming to the cul-de-sac where I parked my car at night, right outside my bedroom window), helicopters with spotlights got thrown into the mix. Cars were broken into or stolen not a hundred feet from where I slept and laid with my wife.

It's just a fact of human existence. We have accidents, we hurt eachother, we hurt ourselves. Some of us find ourselves in situations we just can't handle. We get ourselves pinned between a rock and a hard place, and lash out in one way or another. We hurt someone, we hurt ourselves, we trip and fall. Thankfully, when we find ourselves in trouble, there's a person who can turn on a siren, alerting others to get out of their way, so they can come and help us unimpeded. Someone who is trained to handle our emergency, whether it's a fire, a bad accident, danger from someone else or danger from ourselves.

[DurakkenX]

meh, if i left my window open i could hear gunshots every night... never bothered me as it was always at least a 1/2 mile away ^.^