Why The House Across The Street From The Fire Station Burned To The Ground
It would have been a simple matter to douse the fire if we had acted when we first saw and smelled smoke. But, the house that appeared to be the source of the smoke---OUR house---had stood just where it was for a very long time and it had never burned down before, even though it had been struck by lightning several times and been occupied by several careless smokers. So, when the first wisps of smoke were noticed---over by the escalator, some would later recall---we just did our best to ignore them and went on with our lives.
Soon, though, the smoke seemed to get thicker and thicker and, though some cried out in alarm, others shushed them by reminding them that, while other people's houses had been destroyed by flames, our house had never burned before and, besides, this was just smoke---no flames.
But, then, there were flames and the structure began to pop and crack as the orange flickers grew into walls of roaring fire. "Someone should call the fire department" was repeated over and over by all sorts of frightened occupants, but no one could quite decide who that "someone" should be. And, the flames moved relentlessly---predictably---from room to room.
Finally, several from the house ran over to the fire station across the street and shouted that help was needed immediately; our house was on fire but could still be saved if the firemen would just do their job. And, the firemen yawned and said "What fire?"
And, those from the house screamed "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'WHAT FIRE?' T-H-A-T FIRE!" as they pointed to the clearly visible conflagration across the street.
And, the firemen looked directly at the burning house and said "That's just a little smoke. Why are you bothering us with fake news? Go away."
And, so, we watched from the sidewalk as our house burned to the ground while some continued to whine "Someone should have called the fire department!"
= new reply since forum marked as read
It's an excellent metaphor.
Thank you, my dear Atticus!
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