Culture of False Alarms

Was there a culture of people who enjoyed pulling false fire alarms in the Boston College dorms? I remember my freshmen dorm, Keys North, experienced dozens of nighttime false fire alarms over the course of the year. While the vast majority of us living in the dorm were terribly annoyed by them, someone, or a collection of individuals, must have enjoyed causing a disruption in people’s night.

Was it a power trip they enjoyed? That they, singularly, caused dozens of people to wake up and stand outside in the dark. Was it the thrill of doing something wrong and illegal, and getting away with it, that was their motive? Did they think it was a practical joke, where the only thing the victims lost was a good night sleep? And is there anything more fun than playing a joke on someone, except playing a joke on a hundred people at the same time?

Do people who pull false alarms laugh and tell their friends? “Hey, guess what? I just woke up Walsh for the second time tonight.” Or do they expect to feel scorn and disapproval from their peers, and stay silent?

You may believe that someone who pulls a false alarm is deviant from the rest of the student body, and maybe so. But why were there false alarms after false alarms in seemingly every dorm, every year. Why was there a collection of individuals who thought it was fun / acceptable to pull and run?

Out of this mindset came one person who wanted to go one step further, be more audacious and aggressive, thoughtless and destructive. Could he ever have imagined that this one insular and sophomoric act could have such terrible consequences?