As drafts are piling up I am beginning to get lethargic with my blog. Before I can systematically wrap up each of those drafts, I have to write about today’s drill.

As a prospective visitor to the country I remember scanning the newspapers and internet for any little information possible on the 50-day war, when it would end and if at all it would end. During this time, I noticed photos of how Israelis responded to air raid sirens – they would duck behind their cars, take cover inside their building stair wells or just lie down on the ground covering their heads.

I was supposed to be at a meeting by 11.30 am and the siren was scheduled to go off at 11.05. I was at a busy intersection when my phone buzzed with a broadcast message from the telephone operator about the alarm. Within seconds the two minute long siren was sounded. The siren took me by surprise despite the text message. Looking for a cue on what I should do next, I examined my surroundings to see what others were doing. Cars continued to zip past and for a moment I was thinking about the Doppler effect, people ambled about in and out of shops and restaurants, there was one dog that reacted violently to the siren, a group of corporate junta continued their informal meeting over coffee – in short, no one gave a damn. Today, for the first time since the war, an air raid siren was sounded to simulate a rocket attack on Israel. This was to check the response of civilians and especially schools and the effectiveness of the national siren system. I was expecting to see images similar to the photos I had seen last year. Turns out, Israelis are too cool for school. They will run to the shelter or take cover only when it’s the real deal, not for a nation-wide drill.

Surprised at the reaction, I asked a friend if she too just carried on with work when the siren was sounded. “We are a strange nation,” she said to me. She meant to comfort me because I looked rather shocked at this lackadaisical attitude of the people. She continued, “Do you really think we need a drill to tell us where to run to when the actual siren goes off. We know all too well what to do and where to go.” It is true, last summer’s war had Israelis running to shelters 3-4 times a day. The drill was crucial for children, employees who had changed jobs and those who are generally unfamiliar with the protocol.

I had informed R about the drill yesterday. Just as we were contemplating what we would do, B emailed saying, “if you hear the siren, it is most likely nothing, you can keep doing whatever you were doing.” According to B, if you know where the shelter is, why do you need to participate in the drill?

R’s colleague, AR, did not receive this ‘play it cool’ memo from B. Upon hearing the siren, AR looked to see if R would accompany him to the shelter. When he noticed that R was not one to run to the shelter, AR quietly went down to the shelter and came back a few minutes later and continued his work. Let us hope that AR does not have to show R the way the shelter any time soon, or ever.