Mobile Emergency Alert System

[Ennui]

On the bright side at least it's not taking place during the Truss days.

She'd have had our phones blaring out those sirens at the beginning of Two Tribes.

 

[Sibz]

I don't understand what people are scared of, it's no different from a notification coming up on your phone except with a alarm. If you're nervous of loud noises then switching it off stops you confronting your fear and seeing it's not that bad, and just makes your anxiety worse. And if you're going to switch it off because of anxiety, surely sleeping through an emergency situation where you could be in danger and knowing nothing about it far more scary?

 

[Lonette]

I was visiting my elderly parents, neither of them knew about it. My mum asked her neighbours and again they were unaware. My dad is early dementia and my mum is exhausted and ill. The neighbours all elderly and various illnesses. These people aren't stupid, far from it. But not everyone lives on sm or rolling news and that doesn't make them anyless important. My dad started to get upset about the government scaring people. It was all a bit upsetting for a while. These people aren't crazy conspiracy theorists, like some ignorant people love to call anyone nowadays who dares to raise concerns about anything. Such a dumb mentality.
The only saving grace was that everyone involved, including me have very basic, UNSMART phones so nothing would have happened anyway .

The sneering, mocking people really would do well to remember that not everyone is as lucky as them to be able to not care about anything.

 

[LaBlonde]

 

[CoffeeMamma]

Japan has had it since what, 2015? We’re just slow AF. It’s not a big deal it’s just new.

 

[LittleMy]

What are we supposed to do anyway if there was a genuine emergency ,I’m not going outrun a tsunami or nuclear bomb

Exactly and do we really want to know if there’s a nuke going to hit us when there’s nothing we can do about it anyway? Would rather not spend my last moments freaking out thanks

 

[thinkofacoolname]

I keep my phone on me in work which isn’t allowed, so as much as I would like to see what happens when it goes off, it’s probably not worth the punishment… having said that, it would be a legit excuse to have it on me to see an alert in practice. Pinky promise I’m not browsing tattle…

 

[Miss.Chanandler.Bong]

I’m expecting more things like this from people

 

[Saddlesoap]

Honestly didn't realise people were so bothered by this. Although I'm glad for the reminder cos I had forgotten!

 

[LaBlonde]

despite reading the thread this morning and being fully aware it was happening, that still took me by surprise

 

[emm]

My cats didn't even react, I don't know about everyone else's phones but mine was less loud than my morning alarm. I don't think this would even wake me up if I was asleep

 

[Ensay]

A few people in my local Nextdoor group were having a good old whinge about the alert the other day. They were saying they'd switched theirs off and that everyone should do the same because it's like Big Brother and how dare they take over our devices, etc.

I didn't bother engaging with them, as they seemed so set in their ways, but I really can't understand the fuss. They've given plenty of notice about the day and time it's going to go off and - as others have said - they're put to good use in lots of other countries. Some people just fear anything new I suppose.

 

[Lonette]

It's not something I feel I need in my life as I've got enough anxiety anyway with the mental health problems I have on an average, normal day so I've personally disabled this.

I feel like if something serious enough is happening I'll hear about it anyway.

People judging and mocking anyone who uses it are dickheads though. It's surely up to the individual? Can never understand how so many are seemingly overinvested in what total strangers choose to do when it comes to managing their lives!

 

[emmer_moans]

What are we supposed to do anyway if there was a genuine emergency ,I’m not going outrun a tsunami or nuclear bomb

And we’d jam the roads pretty quick if we tried to escape. I remember seeing footage of people in America in gridlock on the freeways/highways when there was some evacuation due to storms a few years back. Imagine the same scene in UK when a whole city gets jammed because of a broken down car My city has a lot of one way nonsense in the centre and one day a van caught fire and people going to work (it was around 8.30am) were jammed all around the city for at least 2 hours. In the UK I think we are more likely to get localised alerts for flooding saying to not go out in the car, or, in high heat maybe we’ll get “drink some water”

 

[Lonette]

My poor son with asd panicked ran and tried to hide so didn't go down too well here

All the people sneering at those of us who were anxious this and are now gloating that it wasn't even a big deal don't seem to take things like this into account, which is depressing.

 

[Deeznutslol]

Out of interest, why are people so angry and upset about this lmao? Is there actually a concrete reason or is it just paranoid people and whingers who complain about everything?

 

[Rxt156]

I don’t think it’s a big deal. Standard tho theres
some that think they’re being hacked and monitored. No one in the government cares that your on Instagram 6 hours a day

 

[Yel]

I do hope the mail's bullshit to whip up people story warn people taking their roast dinner out of the oven worked and millions haven't dropped Sunday dinner!

 

[Lonette]

Seen some quite cruel tweets about this on Twitter, being really mean to those of us who are anxious about this. Mocking us and saying stuff like how do we cope, etc. Mental health issues quite often mean a person does not cope well with what seems like "little things" to everyone else, that's the point. There's a reason people are freaking out and a lot of the time it will be because they aren't well! Or they are domestic abuse survivors who have every reason to fear their phone going off at random. Or any other reason. Yes, conspiracy theorists have lactched on and are being over the top about government agendas and stuff but that's far from everyone who is upset by this.

I don't like the whole "be kind" thing because too often it is used to stifle opinion or people hide behind it because they don't want to own their shit but I do wish there was better understanding of mental health in 2023. People act like there is, like things are more open and accepted now but it often seems as bad as ever when it comes to how ignorant, judgy and mean people can be.

 

[Poddular]

The problem is that there is a quite significant overlap between those complaining about things like this and the conspiracy theory crowd. Obviously it's not 1:1 though.

The problem is people like you thinking everyone should think like you otherwise they are " the conspiracy crowd". There is a whole other world of people who don't post on ct sites, don't post on any sites, dont believe in aliens or 5g conspiracies but who do have genuine concerns about many issues. Elderley people for one, who grew up not afraid to go against popular opinion. And grew up not wanting constant government intervention in their lives.
Concerns that apparently can't be discussed or even raised without being called some dumb name by dumb people.