Alert!

The lights were out and climbing into the bed for a snooze when suddenly the room was filled with a banshee scream like a smoke alarm on steroids. Legs stumbling as blankets scattered trying to find and eliminate the annoying blast. Since it wasn’t coming from the radio, the only other electronic item that was on in the room was the cell phone.

Flipping up the lid, the scream was quickly cancelled to the relief of all in the neighborhood.

“What the heck was that all about?”

Seems I (and I suppose millions of others) were sent an ‘Amber Alert’ about some teen girl from Bumpass who may be missing with some old guy in some a possible devious manner and demented agenda.

Checking social media, everyone is posting the same message about this missing teen. Yes, the message got out.

I don’t know this girl or the guy whose faces were posted all over the place. Still I could pass them on the street and not make the connection.

I wonder how many teens or tweens or women or men are missing and not alerted to the public, so I checked.

There are all sorts of colors for alerts. There are alerts for dementia folks out for a wander, there are alerts for senior citizens who could find their way, there are alerts for missing pets, there are alerts for traffic backups, there are alerts for bad weather, there are alerts of wildfire evacuations, there are alerts from the President who will warn us against nuclear annihilation (like there is something you can do about it).

There are alerts on your computer when the battery is low. There are alerts on your car when the oil is low. Alerts from your school when there is a lock down or when they will be closing early can also be a game changer. The alert on the microwave tells your food is cooked and it reminds you over and over and over again to open the door.

The problem is the annoying wake-up alert cannot be deleted. Will it just sit in the message list until someone finds this couple? They may have left the country. They might be married and have a baby by now. He may have killed her and dumped the body in the woods. She may have realized he was a no-good and left, dying her hair and running off with some other guy.

OK, I’ve been alerted to whoever they are. Now back to the silly news of the entertainment network.