I did respect the guy on the other end of that conversation, that was like "What the fuck, man! Get back on the damn boat! NOW! What do you mean you didn't? DO IT YOU FOOL!"

I listend to the entire conversation in Italian. You can totally hear the Coast Guard officer's frustration, exasperation, and ultimately anger at the idiot. It loses something in translation.

So do others. I hope De Falco's name is the one remembered at the end of the day. [link]

After working on Wall St, I think it's bizarre that there hasn't been a single fire (or other emergency) drill in the more than a year and a half I've worked here. We had them if not quarterly, at least every 6 months in NYC, and they varied -- fire, non-fire, leave the building, don't have to leave the building, etc.

Now that you mention it, Jesse, neither have we in the four months I've been at the new job. We had them frequently in DC.

From the Reuters article I posted above:

A tweet from Sofia Rosada said: "It is men like De Falco who should be governing. Instead we are full of men like Schettino."

Some have even played on the Jesus Christ-Judas Iscariot comparison, one a savior, the other a traitor.

Judging from reports that De Falco is usually soft-spoken, unassuming, and even shy - when he is not faced with a shipwreck - he would likely reject the acclamation of instant sainthood.

But he may be moved by a tweet from an Italian boy named Salvatore Garzillo: "The next time someone asks me what I want to be when I grow up I am going to say: 'a man like De Falco.'"

We have fire drills all the time. I've managed to avoid many of them by working from home. Rocks. Our emergency team is really high profile. I'm a bit startled.

We also have had drills where the response desired is to get under your desk.

Uh, not unless you're checking up on me. I drop to a knee, and then I'm back up and working. Bare minimum.

I drop to a knee

This now brings Tebowing to mind, rather than anything else. Unfortunate.

When I lived in Houston the fire alarm went off. And I looked out the window and saw flames shooting up. I worked for a company that included a trading desk, and the traders always ignored fire drills. So before exiting I walked over to the traders' area, and told them "this is not a drill, it is a real fire". One of them asked "how serious"? I said "No idea, up to you decide how much your ass is worth to you."

They exited building, and the fire turned out to be minor. They were pissed at me, but as I said "the choice was yours, I told you accurately that the fire was real and that I had no idea about seriousness."

As someone who spent twenty years "taking a knee" in martial arts classes, and who wouldn't know Tebow if he proposed marriage to her right now (seriously, I don't even know his first name), I'm going merrily along with my knee shit, and hope the rest of the world will rejoin me someday.

A co-worker has dared me to behave. I should not have been snarky in that email, but at least it was about an external company, so I figure I'm safe, even if it is demonstrably bad form.

Thanks for all the condolences, all.

Look, I have a shiny new/old/refurbished name!

Great. Now I'm going to be totally fucked up with how to refer to you.

Why is this not about me?

Aw, sniff.