At first I was afraid, I was petrified. Go on now, go, walk out the door, just turn around now ’cause you’re not welcome anymore. Weren’t you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye? Did you think I’d crumble? Did you think I’d lay down and die?
Oh, no, not I, I will survive. Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I’ll stay alive. I’ve got all my life to live, I’ve got all my love to give. And I’ll survive, I will survive, hey, hey!
Yes, this song works great in a disco, but, as I recently learned at work, it can also be your mantra when faced with an active shooter. No, they did not sing these lyrics, but I sure did sing them in my head during the training. They said first you have to get your fear under control. Get a survival attitude. Then you choose to hide out, get out, or as a last resort, take out (as in take out the shooter-yeah, like I’m Liam Neeson). I think the radio station should play this song as a code to let everyone know the situation. Face it, the shooter wouldn’t know what it meant.
The training was depressing if I really let myself think about it, but I can’t let myself go there. This is a reasonable fear that I possess, not just because of the times we live in, but because of where I work. I’m just trying to tutor people so they better understand grammar. Grammar is one of those subjects that can drive a person up a wall but we sure try to keep it fun.
Would anyone have thought they would miss the days of hiding under a desk for a bomb drill? My sons have monthly drills for various reasons at school. They introduce the concept to children in K-2 as a drill in case a wild animal gets in the school. In third grade they add “or an angry person with a weapon” to still try to keep it not overly scary. I grew up in a great time period-we only had fire drills in the 80s.
I Will Survive. An amazing song. It works on so many levels.
ohbloodyhell8 
I volunteer at Luke’s school once a week. I’ve been there during fire drills, but most recently we had some kind of “intruder on the premises” drill in which the teachers had to close all windows and gather the kids against an interior wall. For the kids, it’s an adventure. For the adults, it’s very unsettling. (And that whole “line them up against the wall” thing? It just screams Firing Squad to me. They’re an easier target that way. Yikes!)