Ok, I get it. You don't want to leave the building. It's cold out. You are in your pyjamas. You have to work the next morning. You'd rather just stay inside and wait out that annoying fire alarm, which is likely to be false anyway.
But wait! It's a fire alarm. It's not a suggestion to evacuate; it's a command.
I've lived in several apartment buildings during my college years, where supposedly studious humans have decided to ignore fire alarms, leaving firefighters with the responsibility of risking their own lives to rescue the alarm skeptics should the fire unfortunately turn out to be real.
There are times when leaving the building early is a good idea, fire alarms being one of those times. And then there are other times when leaving early will just make you appear foolish.
If the fire alarm goes off, sure, get the heck out of the building. This gives you the first right of refusal should anyone attempt to ridicule you with something along the lines of, “Ha! You were the first to leave when the alarm went off and we can clearly see now that there never was a fire.”
However, being the first one out of the building at a sporting event, especially one that has not yet concluded, is just asking for ridicule, regardless of the event's outcome.
I mean, who are you trying to beat out of there, the old guy that can't find his way out of the parking lot?
For the most part, we see sporting event attendees leave early when a team or individual is well ahead of its opponent and the outcome appears to be a foregone conclusion, despite the fact that time remains on the clock or a possession is still to be had by the opposing side.
I know traffic can be a nightmare in most major cities and sometimes it's hard to watch your team lose 6-1, but really, what is gained by bolting prematurely?
The early escapees are only setting themselves up for a lose-lose situation. Either your team blows it anyway and you missed out on a chance for one more delicious cold beverage, or your team makes a valiant comeback and you are stuck on the freeway listening to it all go down on your AM radio.
For a concrete example of why leaving a sporting event early can be disastrous, just look to the Canada versus Russia semifinal game of the World Junior Hockey Championship Jan. 3.
With Canada down 6-1 heading into the final frame, not only were people shuffling from their seats with at least a period to go, but ticket-holders were already selling their passes to the gold medal final, as they had no faith in a dramatic and improbable comeback – something that never happens in sports.
All of a sudden, with several seats vacated, Team Canada roared back, scoring three goals in less than three minutes to make it 6-4.
You could see some of the despondent crowd trying to make their way back to their seats, as the Canadians scored another to pull within one.
Watching the game at home with my family, I couldn't help being captivated by team Canada's comeback. I was literally on the edge of the couch – though I would have loved to occupy one of the vacated seats.
Canada was unable to complete the comeback, which was disappointing. But to witness a game that appeared to be so far from reach for Team Canada and its fans, and then to see hope restored and the chance of winning brought right back to reality, left many sports fans with memories that will last a lifetime.
I feel for those in attendance that left early and missed the magic that took place that night. Sure, Canada didn't win. But that game showed us what sports are all about – attempting to achieve the seemingly impossible.
Don't risk leaving early; you never know what might happen in the end.
