Because multiple people have asked about my experience of living in Hawaii when this message arrived on cell phones at approximately 8:10 on Saturday morning…
In the aisle marked Asian Foods at the Hilo Walmart, I had just selected a bottle of soy sauce when the alarm alert sounded on cell phones, not quite in unison, but in a cacophonous momentary juncture nevertheless. Someone in the same aisle as me said, “Probably another flash flood warning.” After placing the soy sauce in the cart, I pulled out my cell phone for a quick look. The words “missile” and “this is not a drill” definitely caught my notice. It was a weird moment.
Then Walmart floor personnel began to clump, discussing in hushed but still strident tones what protocols existed. Apparently, if they did exist, no one knew what they were. No sirens sounded out in town; it was just that phone notification. No one announced anything over the Walmart speaker system, and I began thinking that maybe the alert was a mistake.
I headed to check-out where a cashier--ready and willing, even smiley and chipper--ushered me into her lane, and I paid for my items. Just as I exited Walmart, I heard a lady finishing a phone conversation. She announced to the three or four of us nearby that her husband had told her that the military said the alert was a mistake. I checked Facebook for any info, and there was already a feed there stating the alert was an error. In my car--and I certainly wasn’t a lone driver on the streets--I headed to the mall situated on the next block to use their bathrooms (better than Walmart’s!) because I planned to go to the Hilo Farmers Market next.
Stores had not opened at the mall yet since it was like maybe 8:30 at this point, but I knew the mall itself would be open for mall walkers and food vendors. Some tourists had hunkered down in the corridors near the restrooms, and I noticed a few mall workers hanging about. After using the bathroom, though, I left for the farmers market.
About forty minutes after the original alert, notification of a false alarm was finally sent over cell phones. At church on Sunday, I realized that a lot of people had a much more emotional response to the experience than I did. Except for the first couple of minutes after the original alert, it didn’t feel real or logical to me anymore. I don’t have children or others that I’m responsible for either, so that probably made a difference also.
Still, it was a crazy start to a Saturday!
Then Walmart floor personnel began to clump, discussing in hushed but still strident tones what protocols existed. Apparently, if they did exist, no one knew what they were. No sirens sounded out in town; it was just that phone notification. No one announced anything over the Walmart speaker system, and I began thinking that maybe the alert was a mistake.
I headed to check-out where a cashier--ready and willing, even smiley and chipper--ushered me into her lane, and I paid for my items. Just as I exited Walmart, I heard a lady finishing a phone conversation. She announced to the three or four of us nearby that her husband had told her that the military said the alert was a mistake. I checked Facebook for any info, and there was already a feed there stating the alert was an error. In my car--and I certainly wasn’t a lone driver on the streets--I headed to the mall situated on the next block to use their bathrooms (better than Walmart’s!) because I planned to go to the Hilo Farmers Market next.
Stores had not opened at the mall yet since it was like maybe 8:30 at this point, but I knew the mall itself would be open for mall walkers and food vendors. Some tourists had hunkered down in the corridors near the restrooms, and I noticed a few mall workers hanging about. After using the bathroom, though, I left for the farmers market.
About forty minutes after the original alert, notification of a false alarm was finally sent over cell phones. At church on Sunday, I realized that a lot of people had a much more emotional response to the experience than I did. Except for the first couple of minutes after the original alert, it didn’t feel real or logical to me anymore. I don’t have children or others that I’m responsible for either, so that probably made a difference also.
Still, it was a crazy start to a Saturday!
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