This is only a drill

We received a heads up today.

The Israelis need to stay alert to any eventuality. Heaven knows they get enough surprises in their lives, with rockets and mortars fired into their cities from time to time across some quite hostile borders.

They’re going to have a drill next Wednesday. Sirens all across the country will wail. Stores will lock down. Business will stop. The sirens are meant to test Israelis’ quickness to respond.

There’s no telling how quickly everyone will need to run into the bomb shelters. My hosts, a Rotary couple in Haifa, tell me the sirens aren’t the same as the “real thing.” But it’s a drill, and it’s supposed to be realistic enough to make them go through the motions.

I’ll be curious to know whether the country responds more quickly to than many private businesses do in the States when a routine fire drill occurs.

I’m guessing the Israelis are pretty good at this.