A Useless Wake-Up Call

So at 6:07 this morning, my phone rings. At that hour, I know it's our town's automated phone system. And I'm thinking it's: a) school's cancelled or b) school has a delayed opening. So I get out of bed, fully cognizant of the fact that, before Daylight Savings Time went into effect this time was really 5:07, not 6:07.

To paraphrase the message left on my machine: Our schools will open as scheduled. Please exercise extreme caution when transporting your kids to school due to downed branches and non-working traffic lights.

You're kidding, right? You woke me up to tell me to BE CAREFUL?! Not that there was a delay or cancellation of schools which would mean that my children could remain sleeping. No. You woke me up, and almost woke my kids up, to tell me to BE CAREFUL!

I think it's a safe assumption that anyone getting this call (and it was 3 calls, by the way - 2 to our family cellphones and 1 to our landline) is an adult if they have kids in the public school system. And most of us went through the terrible storm the weekend. Some of us may have lost power or had downed trees, but we're aware that conditions were bad Saturday and Sunday.

And the school system has no way of knowing that my 4-year old had trouble getting to sleep and then had night terrors until 3AM so I was up with her most of the night.

But don't call me to tell me to BE CAREFUL DRIVING. That's just misusing the automated system.