Head on a swivel

I have been chuckling about/being informed by Nicole Cliffe's (formerly of The Toast) recent Twitter thread about fire exit awareness. I am also a fire exit awareness person, so it was great to have some validation on that front. Have a look (this link will take you to the thread, or maybe click on the timestamp of the embedded tweet below? After more than six years I still don't really know how Twitter works, especially when it comes to threads):

I am so paranoid about venue fires, I have a little checklist I run through, so sit next to me at the concert and you'll get out alive.

— Nicole Cliffe (@Nicole_Cliffe) October 31, 2016

Are you a fire exit awareness person? If so, why? I think my habit of situational awareness first came into being because I am Suzanne Walker's daughter (the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire was practically a bedtime story), but also because of various security briefings we had prior to spending time in countries like Russia and Syria. We got the briefing for Jordan twice since we spent two summers there, and the guy giving it had a favorite helpful phrase he used both times ("head on a swivel"). Maybe that's why Jeremy and I still turn to each other all these years later and occasionally just say "head on a swivel" and share a smile...but also totally keep our heads on a swivel in dicey situations.

So in general, when I'm in a room, I know where the exits are. I know where the main one is, and where another one (hopefully) is in case the main one is out of use. It's something I don't think I can un-learn.

Which is why Nicole Cliffe is my people.