Doorbells in Dayton

What do 7 counselors from Dayton area agencies, people in need of Thanksgiving meals, and the Dayton Fire Department have in common?

They all showed up to my training yesterday!

I had a Benefits class at the Dayton Vineyard Church yesterday from 8 A.M. to 3 P.M. Before I go too much further, I just want to make it clear that I did not set the church on fire. In fact, there wasn't even a fire. But I'll get to that in a second.

I like training at the Dayton Vineyard Church because they have a great computer lab and a very friendly, helpful contact person. The computer lab has 10 computers and one big monitor that can be used to demonstrate different features of the software in the class. They also have a large table in the middle of the lab, which is nice to use during the non-software related parts of the training.

But there are some things I don't like about the Dayton Vineyard church too. First, the building is in a neighborhood that has no restaurants near by, making the lunch hour a little frustrating for class participants. Secondly, the building is kept locked all day, so I have to personally let every class participant in to the church. They have to ring a doorbell and I go down a flight of stairs to let them in.

Yesterday was a very yucky, rainy morning, so we had 2 people arrive to the training late. Every time the doorbell rang, I had to pause the class, leave the room, and let them in. I'm sure these interruptions were distracting, but we managed. By 8:35 A.M., 7 of the 8 participants in the computer lab had arrived and we continued with the class. I wasn't sure if the 8th person was coming or not, so when the doorbell rang around 10:00, I decided to answer it.

That was a mistake.

Instead of our eighth class participant, I found two guys standing outside of the door--both looking for turkeys for their holiday meals. Apparently, the Dayton Vineyard Church offers this service--but not until office hours from 3-8 P.M. I explained that I didn't work with the church but that if they came back in the afternoon that someone could help them then. I'm sure this was confusing, especially since I answered the door, but they seemed to understand.

After that, I decided not to answer the doorbell anymore unless it was to let class participants in after lunch. I stood firm on this resolution, and despite several doorbell rings throughout the day, including one at five til 3 (five minutes to go in the class), I did not answer the door the rest of the day.

That was a mistake, too.

It turns out that the last doorbell ring was the Dayton Fire Department. Around 3:00, one of the class participants was exiting the building at the conclusion of the class. As he left, he let 3 Dayton firefighters into the building who had been waiting outside for a few minutes. I heard some kind of commotion in the hallway before the man nervously came back in the lab and asked me to talk to them. I looked out the window and, sure enough, a ladder truck was parked outside.

What in the world?

As the last 3 participants finished up their training exercises, I calmly walked into the hall where 3 stern-looking firemen stood, arms crossed. I introduced myself and asked how I could help, secretly sniffing the air for smoke. One fireman launched into a long, confusing story about how they had received calls from the Dayton Vineyard Church over the past few weeks, but each time they tried to respond to the call, they were sent to 122 N. Main instead of 1222 N. Main. I guess they just wanted to investigate the confusion, but of course, I had no clue what they were talking about. I explained that I didn't work there and quickly called our contact person who arrived a few minutes later. By that point, the class had finished, so I quickly packed up my materials, said good bye, and hurried out of the building.

I wasn't in trouble or anything, I just wanted a picture of the fire truck for my blog before they drove it away. :)