Gascon. Chemicalcon. Chlorocon 2014 - those are just some of the monikers that have been affectionately given to the latest adventure from which my good friends and I have just returned. For those of you who didnt see my last, hurried post right from the scene at ground zero, let me tell you in more depth about the events that seem to be gracing the covers of all the worlds papers today! It was around 1am Sunday morning. I was dancing with a bunch of friends old and new in a brightly lit up music hall at Midwest Furfest, one of the worlds largest furry conventions held in an elegant Chicago hotel around this time every year. Well, they were dancing. I was trying, and doing what probably looked more like an elaborate impression of a jellyfish. Now for those of you on my page who dont know, a furry convention is a place where people of all ages and all walks of life come together to meet and mingle, share dance and music and art...all while dressed like animals. Yes, you read that right. Its one of those things you wouldnt think existed until youd seen it for yourself (I certainly didnt!) - but the people are so friendly and kind, the performances and events truly so fun, and the atmosphere of everyone just relaxing and being themselves to share a common hobby so disarming that once youve been to one just to see what theyre about...you never really stop going again. Indeed, many entire families attend, and Ive met attendees who were everything ranging from doctors to artists to lawyers and politicians (and perhaps not surprisingly, a good number of veterinarians). Anyway, the dance was abruptly interrupted with a call by security to evacuate the hotel. Like most of the people there, I at first assumed someone had just pulled the fire alarm and wax t taking it too seriously - in fact, they initially told us to go back in before hurriedly rushing us out again. But as a barrage of fire engines, police cars and one conspicuous hazardous waste vehicle graced the scene over the next few minutes and within an instant had the premises surrounded with caution tape...we quickly realized that the time for finger-pointing who had accidentally set off the emergency exits was over. After about 20 minutes of standing around outside to learn more about what was going on, locating everyone (and for one gentleman in fox ears, apparently pulling out his trusty guitar and serenading us beneath the beckoning police lights), emergency response crewmembers began directing everyone into an empty convention center across the street that was more like an empty warehouse at the moment. I had been too far away myself to get back to the main part of the hotel by the time we found out what had happened and the tape had gone up, so I couldnt get back to check on my roommates. Fortunately, one of them, Nick Maha, had been at the entrance at the time and been quite the hero: he ran right past the police as they were sealing off the premises and straight up the stairwell to our room on the seventh floor, where he rescued a roommate of ours who was sound asleep and rushed her out. By the time I annoyed the response crews into checking the room, she was already safe and sound :) So after that, I ran around texting and looking for my other friends, making sure everyone was okay...and admittedly, snapping as many close-up pictures as I could get of the response teams at work in the crisis too, haha ;) As soon as we got into the con center, I passed my phone around to people who didnt have one or whose batteries died so they could get in touch with people (the one time my phone actually WASNT dead!) - then looked around and found some old blankets piled in a corner to hand out to anyone who wasnt dressed for the cold and hadnt been able to get a coat from their rooms or from friends. Luckily, since this WAS after all a convention for people dressed up as animals...MOST of the people were conveniently already attired warmly for the occasion! Once everyone was accounted for, warm and resting, I headed back outside to see if I could find the camera crews at work and MAYBE, even sneak some screentime with the newscasters. (Hey, wouldnt you??) But no luck. Rats xD By about four in the morning, the hotel had been sufficiently aired out and we were given the signal that we could make a safe return. Come to find out, an unlabeled glass jar filled with powdered chlorine - the kind you could get from kitchen cleansers - had been smashed in the ninth floor stairwell, and its fumes had been enough to fill the eighth and ninth floors to unsafe levels. Sadly, it was serious enough for 19 people to be hospitalized for the dizziness, headache and nausea caused by chlorine fume inhalation. One of them was even a good friend of mine, who I hadnt gotten in contact with until afterward. The good news is, they were all okay in the end. However, things could have gone much, much worse; chlorine gas at sufficient levels can be lethal. The investigation is still ongoing, and the last Ive heard they still dont know whether it was an intentional hate crime or prank, or if it was just a case of people being irresponsible. I hope it wasnt the former. Many families were present and even among those treated, parents who had come into town with younger attendees to celebrate their childrens artistic talent in a safe environment for a start to the holidays. An occasion of any kind that brings people together, in happiness and acceptance, and in friendship is always a great cause for the betterment of what we as humans can be and represent, and no act against such a cause as that can ever be justified or rationalized. But when met with the unexpected, we as humans have I believe only two courses that will yield productive outcomes. The first is to learn from what caused them, how to prevent further similar or worse threats from happening in the future. This consideration needs to encompass both the level of preventative security designed to the specific threats that are possible - and the sociological to ask what kinds of prevailing mindsets might be making such threats more commonplace in the first place. The second course is then to see where possible, the positive in every negative once its outcome can no longer be altered. And after all, now that everyones alright and the threat is over, lets face it: how many times will we EVER get to see 4000 people in giant animal costumes parading down an evacuation line again? It definitely was a once in a lifetime experience, to say the very least! So glad youre all okay! Now you have a story to tell the grandkids, if there ever was one - the Great Fuzzy Exodus of 2014 :)
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 06:51:49 +0000
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