English to Russian Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings

An engineer developing fire protection products relies on tests that demonstrate the efficacy of the design, yet secretly hopes that it will never have to do its intended job. Just prior to 9/11, a major renovation of the Pentagon had begun. The first section (Wedge 1) had just been completed when the hijacked jet roared into the junction of Wedge 1 and Wedge 2. We received a call the next day indicating that the fire protection features had performed as expected. I was also asked to be ready to come down and do a walk-through to inspect the structure and advise as to what would need to be replaced or what could be considered functionally intact. About ten days later, I donned a protective suit and breathing apparatus and toured the devastation.

One point that the ***episode drove home*** was that fire could happen at any time and for any reason. The Pentagon needed a method of firestopping that would be effective during the reconstruction process, and for any time after that