So here’s how much an intern is worth. True story since it just happened to me this morning. Heather and I got in at about a quarter to eight, which is normal since we’re early birds and don’t like coming in late like everyone else who shows up at half past or even nine or later. Yesterday during the meeting (where we were mostly ignored since it was more for staff than lowly interns), we giggled about the idea of making Terrence & Phillip shirts for ourselves (with a respective e and h on each) and Photoshopping pictures of our heads to make ourselves look Canadian. I told her about the South Park Create-a-Character, and when we got in this morning, we started playing with them and then e-mailing the pictures we made of ourselves to friends and family.

Well, at about 8:30, Jamie Smock comes in and asks us what we’re doing in here. We tell her that we’re checking our e-mail, and she says, “But didn’t you see all the people out front? There’s a fire truck outside!” Well, hell no we didn’t see that. We’ve been here since before eight and no fire alarms went off for us to know we were supposed to leave. Jamie told us that there’s no one in the building (which makes me wonder why she came in), and that’s when we looked out our window and saw the SASC gang hanging out on the sidewalk below. Heather opened the window and shouted down to them, asking then what was up and they just shouted back, “The building’s been evacuated!” So Heather and I muttered to ourselves about being left behind and being unwanted, shut our door and went outside.

Once outside, we asked them what was going on. Apparently Ed (an ISU cop) came up the stairs and shouted at Brenda to evacuate the building. She shouted at some more people (which she is wont to do), and apparently Jeff said something to us as he passed by our office but without stopping in. Then he shouted back at us from the stairs and left with everyone else.

Now, Heather has hearing aides which she wears pretty much only in class because the usual noise around here is very loud. People shout, laugh, run up and down the halls, and generally make quite a commotion. I don’t blame her for not wearing them while she’s here in the office. My own hearing is bizarre in that sometimes I can hear the faintest sound which others don’t but most of the time I can’t hear what’s going on around me unless I’m looking straight at it. Add to that the fact that we were talking to each other and reading our e-mail, and you’ve got a couple nearly deaf people, immune to the rest of the world. Jeff walks past our office talking all the time, and people shout up here constantly. I suppose we should have been worried when the place was quiet, but who wants to spoil a good thing?

The point is, someone could have stopped into our office and made absoulte sure that they had our attention before leaving the building. Whatever the problem was this morning (and I never did find out), it must have been potentially dangerous, and yet all of our co-workers left us behind without making sure we reached safety. That is how much we’re worth as interns. Kinda makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? That’s probably just the blood boiling up. I know that’s what I’m feeling.