How did you know there was no cause for alarm?

I think it's strange how people don't react to alarms like they should. Like, if you hear a car alarm, shouldn't you assume the car is being stolen, and do something? Instead, you assume it's a mistake, and you don't do anything. That's happened to me so many times. Once I was on a plane, and the oxygen masks came down. Maybe it was because there was no turbulence or anything, but no one put on a mask. I heard a man ask, "Did someone push the wrong button?" After a few seconds, the captain came on and instructed people to put on the masks, so we did. There was some cabin pressure problem, and we had to make an emergency landing at the closest airport. Another time, I was in a supermarket, and a loud blaring alarm went off. This time, I really have no idea why, but no one reacted in any way whatsoever. People just kept on shopping. I looked around for some guidance, but no one minded the alarm at all. After a few minutes, the alarm stopped. No explanation. I don't know what it says about our society that we don't respond to alarms!

i think usually if there's an alarm that really is cause for alarm, there'll be an announcement that follows it with instructions for what to do. barring those instructions, they seem just background noise. i think it's better for people to ignore them rather than panic and stampede. :-)

and as far as car alarms, i would almost rather the person steal the car and drive it off rather than have those alarms go off for 10 minutes at a time. living in new york i hear enough of them to just think it's a boy crying wolf (a loud motorcycle driving by will set them off a lot of times).