I learned at a young age that you never want to play with fire, especially if you’re around anything that is flammable.
- I accidentally set a dry field on fire at six years old because I was playing with a flint rock without any supervision.
I wanted to start a fire without matches or a lighters but had no idea what it was capable of doing once the flames got out of my control. Thankfully someone walking by saw the fire start and immediately called the fire department. I felt terrible about my behavior and confessed the minute a police officer arrived. I know my parents were angry, but they arrived to find me sobbing out of guilt and were easy on me until the following day. It was an important lesson to learn about respecting the power of fire and the damaging effects that it can have on anything in its path. It’s irreversible destruction, and some people don’t ever get to experience something like that on such a large scale, and at such a young age as well. I learned to respect heat and fire with the utmost caution. When I bought my first space heater in college, I did my research to find the safest one available. Some space heaters are more dangerous than others, especially if the one you buy lacks a tip-over shut-off switch. This safety feature cuts all power to the device if it is tipped over, either accidentally by yourself, a family member, or one of your pets. Imagine waking up to a burning house because your cat accidentally knocked your space heater over in the middle of the night while roaming the house.