At work we are required by law to have two fire drills a year:  one announced drill and one unannounced.  Today was supposed to be our announced drill, but the person sending out the email got the date wrong and told everyone it was tomorrow.  I'm on the committee that sets up these drills, but I didn't notice this error and I casually mentioned to a coworker that she shouldn't get too involved in a project because we were about to have the drill.  

You seriously cannot believe the pandemonium this casual remark caused.  

Within five minutes I had people come over to my desk asking "TODAY??? THE DRILL IS TODAY?  I WROTE DOWN TOMORROW!  THE EMAIL SAID TOMORROW!  I DON'T UNDERSTAND!  IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE TOMORROW!"  I said that perhaps I had written the day down incorrectly, and this caused one person to literally throw her hands in the air and heave a big sigh in frustration.  I asked what the big deal was, because the whole drill only takes about ten minutes, and we only do them twice a year anyway.  Apparently these drills, meant to help keep us safe, are such a huge imposition that people take elaborate steps to avoid them.  A couple of years ago we had a supervisor actually refuse to leave her desk and she got hostile when we told her she had to leave the building.  Her response was to get up and shut the door and turn back to her work.  Why she wasn't written up is beyond me.

I don't get it.  The alarm goes off, we leave our desks, meet in the park across the street for roll call, and return to our desks.  The end.  I seriously don't get why so many people are put out.