burning down the (coffee) house

so today at work we had to call 911 because we could smell
an electrical wire burning under the espresso machine.
we had to evacuate the store
and within about 12 seconds there were
3 firetrucks
and about 20 firefighters there.

so the firefighters came in and said they could only smell coffee
which is hilarious because after working there so long i can no longer smell the coffee
but we were totally overwhelmed by the smell of smoke.

so while they were looking things over barista j. and i were sitting outside.
several customers walked right past us and tried to enter the store
like there was nothing going on.
seriously, not even noticing the huge engines
and dozens of firefighters...
it's like they would have walked right into a blazing inferno
just to get their white mocha.

"we are closed" i would say with a very disappointing look on my face.
and my barista j. would just yell "no, closed" as people would get out of their cars.
it was interesting just how oblivious people were.
j. said the most hilarious thing ever
something along the lines of how much she was enjoying telling
the customers "no" because we are always having to tell them yes
I mean she REALLY enjoyed it.
we both threw our head back in laughter
and enjoyed the fleeting moments of freedom together.

it was all over too soon
it ended up being the refrigerator wires.
we all felt pretty horrible after a few hours of those fumes...
i still have a headache.
i'm just praying that our bodies will
naturally detox from the toxic fumes
we inhaled today.

and now, the song in my head...

"my house is out of the ordinary
that's right, don't want to hurt nobody
some things sure can sweep me off my feet
burning down the house..."

talking heads