In the years I was learning about drafting we were still using vellum
and making blue prints which were a type of photo reactive paper that
you would place your finished drawing and expose to light and then
cure in a cylinder full of high potency ammonia solution. The problem
with that was that there were thirteen and fourteen-year-old’s
fooling around with chemicals that could kill us all. The first
couple of times were were curing the prints the teacher did it all
himself and then he turned it over to us which is where it went
wrong. One afternoon when the teacher was actually out of the class
someone spilled the whole gallon of the toxic curing brew. It was
instantly suffocating and the students left in the room fled the
scene and ran into the hall where the fumes were still spreading.
There was only two other classes on that hall – art and technology
and in about ten seconds they had gotten wind of the issue and were
running outside and the teacher was still not back. There were about
a hundred kids choking and coughing standing out on the back patio in
the cold with only one teacher trying to sort us all out. The fire
department came and sealed off the that classroom and started
ventilating. In the calculus of young adulthood a little burning of
the soft tissues of the lungs was a small price to pay for a little
time on the more or less loose. We didn't have to go back to class
for the rest of the day as we were moved around outside until we were
taken home on our regular buses. Awesome day, most especially if you
happen to like the smell of ammonia and the burn of it in the old
breathe bags.
