Mom Said, "When You Hear A Siren . . ."

. . .Someone’s day was just ruined.”

I thought about that a bit. Sounds right to me; no matter what sort of vehicle it’s on, that sound lets us know that there’s a person whose day was just changed for the worse.

Cop snagged someone, or is going to some “can’t wait” affair; ambulance going to pick someone up or take them to the hospital; fire truck isn’t out for a pleasant day or night ride.

Years ago, and maybe even today in some places, we tested the air-raid siren on Saturdays at noon. The fire company would crank the thing up and we would generally ignore it, except to say, “It’s noon already?” We always thought it would be a good time for the Commies to attack, as nobody paid attention to the sirens.

Some of the boroughs around here let the kids know that the curfew is about to be in effect by setting off their fire alarms for half a minute. That certainly doesn’t ruin anybody’s day, but it puts a wet blanket on whatever the kids were doing at night.

Sirens: “Move to the side of the road; we’re going to help someone and we need to get by you folks.”

Siren: “I’m the train and I’m that big thing you see coming at you, blowing its whistle at the stations and when I see people along the track.” Good luck, Mr. Locomotive.