don't worry, we've got this
this morning i got a little message on my phone that japan just had a giant earthquake and that san francisco now has a tsunami warning, to which i promptly forgot. fast forward a couple of hours and as i am finishing up some errands i decide that i want to head out to lands end. i make a couple of turns and head out to the coast. as i am approaching highway 1, i see a police roadblock turning cars away. thinking that i must be there for a dozen other reason than the tsunami i forgot about, i decide to cut through golden gate park to catch the highway on the other side. a couple of more turns and i find myself facing another roadblock. wanting to know if i can get to where i want to go, i get out of the car and approach one of the police officers to inquire about the nature of the roadblock and if it is going to be possible to get to lands end. her response, "we're just waiting for the tsunami." i can't help but wonder if anyone really thought this through.
here's the deal, while the roadblocks are keeping me from driving down highway 1, they really aren't doing much else to keep people out of the area. there are still people riding their bikes, walking along the coast... i think i even saw some surfers out there. now if a tsunami does come, these officers are in a prime location to get swept away and i find myself a little bothered to think that these people are putting their lives on the line for, what seems to me, an ineffective way of keeping people out of the danger zone. of all the people involved in running our various levels of government, those elected and those employed, this is the best plan you can come up with to inform the populous? it just seems to me that with the technologies that are available to us today, there has got to be a better way and i want the appropriate people to get on this. whose heads do i have to smack to get them to think?
on a side note, i want to say something about the tone in which the officer told me about the tsunami. she informed me in the same way as if they were waiting for a parade or a solar eclipse, anything other than something that if it does show up, she may be swept away. i am reminded that everyday their are people that go out into the world and put their lives on the lines to help make sure that the rest of us are safe. so to the boys in blue, next time i am out the first one is toast to you. thank you for all you do.
here's the deal, while the roadblocks are keeping me from driving down highway 1, they really aren't doing much else to keep people out of the area. there are still people riding their bikes, walking along the coast... i think i even saw some surfers out there. now if a tsunami does come, these officers are in a prime location to get swept away and i find myself a little bothered to think that these people are putting their lives on the line for, what seems to me, an ineffective way of keeping people out of the danger zone. of all the people involved in running our various levels of government, those elected and those employed, this is the best plan you can come up with to inform the populous? it just seems to me that with the technologies that are available to us today, there has got to be a better way and i want the appropriate people to get on this. whose heads do i have to smack to get them to think?
on a side note, i want to say something about the tone in which the officer told me about the tsunami. she informed me in the same way as if they were waiting for a parade or a solar eclipse, anything other than something that if it does show up, she may be swept away. i am reminded that everyday their are people that go out into the world and put their lives on the lines to help make sure that the rest of us are safe. so to the boys in blue, next time i am out the first one is toast to you. thank you for all you do.