Sirens Galore

#214

One of the things we had to get accustomed to here (apart from pretty much everything else) was the sound of sirens every 30 to 60 minutes. Be it an ambulance, a police vehicle, or a firetruck, involving one of what they call the PD (Police Department), FD (Fire Department), or MR (Medical Response). They all have similar-sounding alarms. 

At first, you become conscious to every siren but over time, habituation kicks in. Habituation, in psychology, is defined as “growing accustomed to a situation or stimulus, thereby diminishing its effectiveness”, or a more technical definition: "habituation is the reduction of a behavioral response to a stimulus after repeated presentations of that stimulus". Even while WFH, people in meetings are used to it by now.

One of my colleagues mentioned that people from the lake front migrated to the interiors during the pandemic, which led to the Downtown area becoming more unsafe in the recent times, perhaps why we hear more frequent sirens nowadays despite staying southwest of that area. 

Fun fact: most sirens have a one-mile radius, but some louder sirens can be heard from two miles away!

Random note:

The washing machine here sings for a while when it’s over. Probably its way of showing happiness for having completed its job! :) 

Stay safe!