It was recently announced with great fanfare the other day that they going to ‘test’ the ’emergency alert’ system.
https://getready.govt.nz/sm_WS/prepared/stay-informed/emergency-mobile-alert/
Everytime they do this, my phone screems it’s head off at me, and flashes up messages as if the world is going to end (it hasn’t yet). It’s as if my phone has an epileptic fit.
They have a history of over using this system and I think it’s only going to get worse, as this government specialises in getting in your face and telling you how wonderful they are.
Some examples of past alerts…
1/ There was an earthquake in the Kermadec islands which are 800 Km / 500 miles away from NZ, which could cause a tidal wave. Everyone on the East coast got an alert that told them to run away and climb a big hill somewhere.
That ‘tidal wave’ was so small when it arrived, it got lost in the natural surf.
2/ An adverse weather alert! -high winds are coming to wreak havoc.., except they didn’t because they never arrived..
3/ warnings of the next planned lockdown!, yeah, enough already
Since this alert system has been hard coded into any Android or Iphone, this means I can’t turn off these alerts, which leads me to questioning if I am better off without a phone.
That would result in the following…
lower blood pressure -no alerts, no anxiety.
Lets face it, if country X decides to go nuclear against country Y, there’s nothing I can do about it, and I would rather not know, (I would find out anyway (lots of people running around buying toilet paper would be a bit of a clue))
It wouldn’t be as convenient for my wife to ring me at work to say it’s going to cost an eye watering amount to repair the car, but this would be a good thing! I would rather she just got it the car fixed and told me the damage to the credit card later when I’m sitting down.
Less social media – I do too much of that already, in fact if I can also pry the phone away from my oldest daughters hands, perhaps I could have a real live conversation with her like we used to in the old days.
No more of those texts and emails that tell me to be a good citizen and go get the V thing, to which I say…
But what if there’s a real emergency you might ask!, I’ll take my chances thanks, just like people did in the days before cell phones..
Uncoffined 
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