The Lockdown Story

*It's been one crazy week at my high school. I had 7 extra curricular meetings in the course of 4 days, including 3 simultaneously in 3 different corners of the school. But the most adventurous thing happened on Wednesday where there was a gun scare at the school. Victoria Park CI was locked down at about 2:15 PM for two and a half hours. I got home at 5:15 PM that day, my dad had left work early to come pick me up and it was overall an exciting experience. Someone reported that they had seen a gun, but it was later concluded to be a false alarm. Two people were taken into custody and there were tons of media and police presence, especially because a student was shot at another Toronto school the day before. The following is something I wrote on the lockdown. Just for those who are curious about the inside tension.*

Deep down, we all knew that it was not IF, but WHEN we would experience a major lockdown during our high school tenure and this Wednesday, we put an end to that question.

So, everybody knows what happened, heard all the rumours and whatnot, but the most exciting part, at least in my opnion, was what everybody did to entertain themselves during those 3 hours. Well, here's my story...

I had a guidance appointment at 2:15 PM that day, and we were in English class with Ms. Burwell in Room 129 (just so you get an idea of my setting). We were listening to a tape of Richard III and just as I was about to get up and go to my appointment, the PA tells us we're in a lockdown mode. To be honest, I was quite disappointed, I really wanted to get my volunteer hours filed in guidance.

And so, the class scrunched into the back corner, sat on the floor, you know the drill...and that's what I initially thought it was. A drill. I was thinking, okay, let's get this thing over with so I can go to freakin' guidance.

5 minutes passed without announcements...

"VP, we're still in a full lockdown mode." our Vice-principal Ms. Wong said over the PA at about 2:25.

Alright, let's get on with the show, people, I thought. Then, 15 more minutes passed, then 20. This "drill" was getting suspiciously long without any explanation. Okay, maybe it'll be like a minor lockdown like last year. And at least we're not doing any work.

So to entertain ourselves, we lay on the floor with a backpack as a pillow, just chit chatting about life. Kevin J was trying to do a crossword in the Metro. Justin was just being...well, Justin. Harry and I lay there, bored, blank-minded, bored.

Shortly afterwards, we heard helicopters overheard...at that point, it was pretty much a given that this was not a drill, nor was it minor at all. This was serious and we needed to come up with better ways to pass time.

As the clock neared 3, Harry, Justin, Kevin and I decided to test our geography wits and name countries of the world. After that got boring, we tried to name colleges, food and drink...and by now, I really had to go to the bathroom.

The supposed "dismissal bell" rang, we were told to ignore it and heard more choppers overhead. Our teacher took a peak outside, there was nothing going on. At that point, the few of us began asking questions like "Who was President in 1920...Which Prime Minister came before Louis St. Laurent...". Yea, never thought George Washington's name would be mentioned in a lockdown eh?

After a while, the room started to get really hot. My urgency to urinate was not getting any better. Everybody started to feel antsy. And you know what you should do when you feel frustrated in a lockdown? Do your homework! Seriously, after drawing some "Pyramids of Energy" for science, I felt alot cooler and calmer.

By now, we had probably wiped the floor sparkly clean by lying on the ground, kneeling, sitting, rolling around and being flat on our stomachs. The three of us, Harry, Justin and I decided to arm wrestle eachother (yea, the games were getting lamer and lamer) and can you believe Justin beat both of us? Don't mess with Justin, he's got the guns!

YunLin, Julia and Stephanie came to join our crowd and Kevin brought back a deck of cards from somewhere. What else could we do? First, Harry performed a magic trick with the cards and then we played a chipless version of Texas Hold 'Em. It was past 4 PM, this lockdown was nearing the 2 hour mark!

I suggested we try to learn how to count cards in the game blackjack. But that didn't fall through. And as we were playing 21, Ms. P's voice made a return to the PA. We were told of the incident and informed of how to exit the building. No lockers, lots of police, lots of parents and media, southeast exit only...blah blah blah. Let's just get the hell out!

The third floor was released first, then the math hallway, and then we were told that a police officer would be releasing the rest of the rooms one by one. We pulled up our blinds and were taken aback by the scene outside. There was police tape everywhere. The students exiting the building were herded in a straight line toward the tennis courts. There gathered what seemed to be a chaotic mob.

20 more minutes passed by, the neighbouring room was released, and we were still stuck inside. Did they forget about us?

And finally, just after 5 PM, our saviour, our angel, a police officer finally came to the door and let us out in an orderly fashion of course. The hallways were ghostly empty. There was the Emergency Task Force present. One of them was carrying a really scary gun and he was standing right in front of my locker. It was intimidating just to make eye contact with these people.

We made the short walk to the exit, absorbing what has lasted through much of the afternoon. And as Harry and I stepped outside, we looked around the sun-basked field and took a deep breath.

It's over...

-D