Dumb or Dumber - Skunk vs Battery

I have recently been spending some time with my fireman friend again - I am never tired of hearing about the types of situations that keep him employed. There are times when their services are needed, but 90% of the time, their runs are related to the STUPID things people do or don't do.

Case in point - last night, the engine (David and three other guys) went on a "foreign odor" run. A foreign odor run is just that - there is some sort of unidentifiable smell in whatever location. So off they go, ladder in tow. The guys walk in the house...and are overwhelmed by the odor of SKUNK. Apparently, these people could not figure out why their dog was rubbing all over the floor, furniture and at his eyes...nor what the funny smell was. As someone who has had far more skunk experience than I had ever hoped, this was baffling to me. I feel sorry for the poor dog.

In the end, three of the 4 guys on the engine had a slight skunky odor to them for the rest of the night. They tried to get the driver in, but he was not having any part of it. He called off the ladder, and those boys just drove right by. Apparently the cab of the engine has the faint scent of skunk to it.

I have had a "dumb and dumber" moment with the fire department - when I first moved in my house, I ended up putting a battery in my smoke detector backwards. As my detectors are hard wired together, they both started going off - this was baffling to me. So I called the fire dept, figuring they would be able to tell me what to do - when I could not answer whether or not there was a carbon monoxide alarm in the house, they determined a visit was necessary. I was quite embarrassed when the one guy pulled the battery out and said "maam, you put the battery in backwards".

So, gentle readers, dumb or dumber...skunk vs battery? I now have brand new detectors and there is no question which way the batteries go in - and also possess about 5 extra 9V batteries as well....