In our fair little 'burb, we have a phone system called "Reverse 911," paid for, of course, with tax payer dollars. This system allows town managers to deliver a recorded message to every telephone in town. As its name implies, it's designed for use in emergencies. I believe it has a secondary use for delivering school-related calls to school families only.
For example, it's been used to announce water break mains downtown and to request that we avoid driving in that area until a resolution has been arrived at. When we were suffering through the Extreme Overload house-building exercise, the chief of police dialed us up one or more times a day to breathlessly announce where the TV cameras would be and how to get into that area. It's been used to announce rabies clinics for pets.
This morning, it must have been activated because both our land lines rang once at 6 am in rapid succession. I'm usually up then, but with all the sickness in the house and typical kitty activity, this was the one morning when I was sleeping in (and really needed the extra shut-eye).
I can't imagine what the so-called emergency was this time. That I was asleep? That a bunny ran across the road? That little Suzy Potter wore a dress to school for the first time?
I'm beginning to think that with Reverse-911 in a towns-person's hands, every event looks like an emergency. I'm waiting for the day when the powers that be learn to use the system responsibly and correctly.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Here in UK we get cold calls from all manner of places - even though I subscribe to the telephone preference service (which blocks such calls) we still get some trying to sell us double glazing, holidays, new kitchens etc. It is a complete invasion of our privacy and I hate it.
We received a reverse 911 a few weeks ago to remind us that real estate tax bills were due.
They got some flack for that.
The school department totally overuses it. I hardly answer anymore when I see that it's a town number.
Post a Comment