The "An Alarming Experience" Story

It was an ordinary day. Same routine as always; brush the teeth, shave, shower and get dressed. I usually am the first one up so I head down to feed the cats. Normally I shut off the alarm system that we installed when our daughter lived with us in the 90s. We were traveling one time and she was scared staying in the house alone, so when we returned, I had an alarm system installed for both her and us. Well, this morning, knowing it is trash day, I grabbed the trash from the kitchen can before turning off the alarm. I grabbed another Costco drawstring kitchen bag and with one quick motion pulled it through the air to open it. Worked, but I set off the alarm! I did the same thing about a year ago, but when I called to give my password to cancel the alarm, they told me that it was impossible to set off the alarm with a trash bag. Something else must have caused it to wake up the neighborhood. When we had the alarm system installed we had a alarm break placed on every door in the house. Also had glass breaks placed in a few places so that the alarm would sound if someone or something broke a window. This time when I called the alarm company I got an entirely different answer. They told me I could very easily set off the alarm with the trash bag. Can even do it by popping a balloon or blowing up a small paper bag and hitting it. Now I feel better knowing it was me and not someone opening a door and fleeing when they heard the alarm the first time. The alarm is a high pitched, ear piercing noise that even with my poor hearing can hear loudly. And, it scares you to death when you set it off. I have quite a bit of practice calling the alarm company since I set off the alarm on a regular basis. One time my parents were house-watching and set off the alarm one day when they arrived and were so unnerved that they couldn't stop the alarm until the police arrived and called the company and they turned it off. Mom and dad never told us about it until the police called and wondered why we didn't have a displayed permit to have the alarm. Pretty hefty fine, but they gave us a week to get one. Oh, the joys of the alarm owner! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.