Not me. Just, you know, the west. It’s all kinds of smoky and mountains are burning.
Last night, some of the kids were home for Taco Sunday, and the kitchen rang with the sound of emergency alerts on many phones. The alert was a “Go” order, as in, Ready, Set, Go. There were no further details (like go where, or go when, or go how).
I am just informed enough to know that if we were actually in an evacuation zone, we would have received a Ready order and then a Set order. We’re definitely the kind of people who would have bags packed at that point.
But there was nothing preceding the evacuation order – just a noisy alert and a definitive “Get Out.”
It was stressful to my kids, who are anxious adults in the best and most chill of times. It was not too much later (but way past soon) that the next alert came. This one, without alarms. So sorry. Just kidding. Sent by error.
I appreciated the retraction, but the whole situation put us all on high alert and it was tricky to calm down afterward. Lots of jangling nerves. And I was left with the feeling that life is still hard for my people, and there was once a time I could help them feel better when they got worked up about something scary. I can’t do that as easily anymore. They know life is dangerous and the world is unstable. They’re not distracted by a hug and a song and a story. Life has us on alert, and I wish it was a notification we could turn off—or at least put on mute.