datamusicata

I got a post from someone who had a dream about me evidently not doing too well in a plane or ferry disaster over water. She wanted me to know and she also assured me that her dreams frequently come true. My my, what a fun post that was, but it got me to thinking about safety on the road and what you CAN do to help yourself in an emergency.

It helps enormously if you think of these things in advance. By way of example, I’ll tell you how I amost didn’t save Nicolette Larson’s life in a hotel fire in Oklahoma while we were on tour a while back. She and I were on the road together a lot for a year or two and became good friends. I loved her voice and she was a remarkably generous spirit.

In any event, we were in her home town of Kansas City, I believe it was, and in my hotel room, next to the bed, was a leaflet on what to do in case of a hotel fire. Well, I’ve stayed in thousands of hotels and never had that experience, so I thought it was a waste of time to look at it. My bad angel talking like in those cartoons. But then, my other self (the good angel, I guess), said to take a peek at it, so I did.

I read that you should make certain you know where the stairs are, all exits if you can; touch the doorknob in your room first to make certain that it wasn’t hot; to not open your door and then the windows as the oxygen will feed the flames; to get a wet washcloth or towel from the bathroom and hold it over your nose and mouth; to stay low to the ground as heat rises; to not use the elevator but use the stairs; to count the flights down so that you don’t get confused; and most of all, to keep your head.

I read all that stuff and evidently stored it away.

The next night we were somewhere in Oklahoma and we checked into the hotel and all of us (but the crew) decided to take a nap after the drive so that we would be fresh for the show (I think it was Cain’s Cowtown Ballroom we were playing—home of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys). I unpacked my toiletries, laid out my performance clothes and disrobed for an under the covers nap.

A while later I heard noise and smelled smoke. I jumped up, put pants, shirt and shoes on and raced out of my hotel room. I had a list of who was where, but I went up and down the hallway there banging on doors and windows and waking everyone up and letting them know of the fire. Some of them raced for the elevator, but I warned them of using it and led them to the stairs, of which I had providentially made myself aware.

I led Nic and the whole band down the stairs and I have to admit, while I was going down the stairs, I was feeling kind of cool and proud of myself. I’m a hero, I thought. One doesn’t often get a chance to have that feeling about oneself.

It was at that moment that I opened what I thought was the ground floor, but was in fact the second floor; where the fire was. Smoke billowed into the hall way as I slammed the door and pushed everyone to go down one more floor. Safely outside, they teased me like crazy for being the one who almost led them to a fiery death and they continued to do so for the entire rest of the tour.   I felt like Charlie Brown.   Not the hero...the goat.   Talk about a deflated ego.   And rightfully so.

This is another important lesson to learn. In an emergency, stay calm and STAY FOCUSED. You can think about what a hero you are, after you are safely out of harms way.

So on that plane, or train or bus or ferry, check out the exits; know where the fire extinguishers are; where the life jackets are; what the proper response should be for these emergencies.  Figure out what could happen and think about what you would do in that instance.  Read the safety card in the plane.  I know you have read it before, but read it again. Locate the exits like they say. Locate the safety lights. Look at how to pop out the door and to extend the slide. Do that stuff in your mind. It will take over in an emergency and perhaps save your life.

Like the old joke about the enema…”it couldn’t hoit.”