I’ve turned my emergency alert off because I’m such a rebel!

[StupidFaces]

Urgh

Facebook … numerous posts over the last days consisting of:

“EMERGENCY ALERT SWITCHED OFF!!”

“Leaving my emergency alert on so I can reply and tell them to go and fuck themselves!”

“Remember everyone, emergency alerts can and should be switched off by tomorrow!”

“That’s my emergency alert turned off lol”

Why??? What’s so big and clever about turning the alert off? Don’t people realise that most countries have had this for years? Turning it off doesn’t make you Billy Big Bollocks and boasting about it just makes you look stupid!

YABU - I’ve turned mine off and I’m proud of it! Down with the establishment!

YANBU - people are ridiculous

Some people would have walked around during the Blitz saying air raid sirens were scaremongering and trying to create fear. (I’m sure these people actually did exist too!)

During the blitz where there were mandatory blackouts (so the planes couldn’t see them and bomb them, killing them and everyone around them) there were people who genuinely refused to turn off their lights.

I remember reading it and finding it hard to believe but then covid happened and I read threads like this and realise that there are genuinely stupid people in this world.

If an asteroid warning came that'd give me plenty of time to scoff all the chocolate in the flat. 🤞

Ironically the more people post ass-hat stuff on Facebook, the wider the knowledge of the existence of the alarm spreads. Which is entirely the purpose of this afternoon's one.

Wonder if they realise they're inadvertent Government sheep

I wouldn't be. I would ask one of my support workers to let me know. Please don't judge people you don't know either. I happen to think not wanting to have a screaming self harming meltdown in public is a valid reason for turning it off.

Trust me, she won't 🤣

She has difficulty even making a phone call. I'm talking about her as I know her, not that I'm making a stereotype.

It goes off for 10 secs then switches itself off automatically?

So see some of you at 3 o'clock then, chaps and chapesses!

Not true at all. We’ve been working on it for over ten years, testing it twice in two towns, it was turned on last month.

You may have had messages before like flood warnings, texts from councils, twitter alerts etc but this is new.

Did you all make announcements on Facebook about turning it off?

Sorry - this was in reply to the poster who said we’ve had it for years. For some reason reply doesn’t work on my phone!

^This.

We are indeed idiots.

I haven't seen a single post about it on FB either for or against. It's a good thing to have. I'll be at an event starting at 3 so we're delaying it for the alarm first. I find it quite interesting!

I don't get all the fuss about it. Call me crazy but yes I would like to be alerted asap to emergency situations that might affect my family. And people behaving like this test is going to give them a heart attack, they'll be jumping out of their skin, they're so on edge You know exactly when it's happening and it's just a phone alert. It's not someone with a trombone creeping up behind you and blasting Land of Hope and Glory in your ear.

On the list of things that I have on my mind at any given time, a brief noise on my phone that I know is happening at 3pm on a Sunday is pretty far down.

I would say a terrorist attack, like we had in my town a few years ago. Guy with a knife, happened out of the blue. Three people killed. Luckily some very brave police officers (unarmed) caught the guy almost immediately but that’s an example. Whether they can get it out quickly enough is another matter.

Also a significant air pollution event with a “stay inside” guidance. We’ve had those in the UK recently too. Used to be BBC local radio would provide that guidance but it’s being run down so much you can’t rely on it.

Biggest risk is Sunday evenings when there is very little local news cover and it’s pretty hard to find out what’s happening form any new coverage.

I want to see that Catherine Tate character who is jumpy do a sketch about this!

My grandmother is one of the most tech savvy people over 80 I know. She uses an iPad, a kindle, and a phone for calls, text, and photos. She still struggles with anything new now and forgets how to do things like use Facebook messenger regularly. She doesn't want the alert as she is afraid she will panic at the noise.

So exactly what I get on breaking news, or by putting on the local radio station if in the car. There's many people who don't need this (unless it's really about a war), so they aren't the names they've been called on here.

I was on holiday in America last year and we had an alert come through to all our phones while out shopping saying there was a missing child locally so for that I see it as a good thing

Well yes it would be used for that.

Also for very extreme (red alert) weather, hazardous fires, terrorist attack, flooding, tsunami (which are very rare but have hit Britain historically with devastating effect and could do so again) and other similar emergencies. They will give information of what to do such as shit windows, stay inside etc.

It has not been developed suddenly just because of the current raised tensions with Russia. It's been in the pipeline since 2008, we are just really slow to get anything up and running.

And as someone who may be involved with deciding to issue one I can assure you we are all very aware of the responsibility of not over-using it and have been training for a while (and there are lots of processes in place).

It's just a phone making a noise for a few seconds, why are people making such a fucking fuss!!!

Breath.....

Yes to this!

I’ve seen it all over mine too. “The government has an agenda!” “I won’t be controlled by our government they can go f* themselves!” “They say it’s for weather warnings and lost kids but I know different! WE’RE GOING TO WAR!!!1!”
Etc etc.

If you don’t want the alert, just turn it off. Don’t make yourself look like a conspiracy nut!

🙄🙄🙄

you would rather not know if an asteroid was about to hit, when receiving the message " go inside, close doors, sit in hall away from windows" could save lives?
You would rather get caught outide in a maelstrom of flying glass, when moving your self 20 m in one direction could have avoided it?

what a rebel you are

What shelter? Where? If the bomb drops giving us 4 minutes warning won’t help.

No time to even ring loved ones to say goodbye as the mobile network won’t cope.

My phone is currently somewhere in the European postal system, having been left in an Airbnb. I hope it doesn't panic the workers when it goes off

I have experienced an alert in another country when a rabid wild animal was on the loose. It was a danger to children in pushchairs in particular, so people took their children home for a few hours until the poor thing had been put down.

Why would you NOT want to hear that?