Oh, the great internet outage of 2022! Have we all recovered yet?
People nationwide were freaking out about no internet, no phone service, no access to cash. Things basically came to a standstill last week.
Rogers customers across Canada reported mobile and internet outages since early Friday morning.
It takes one of those every once in a while to remind us how interconnected — and how vulnerable — we all are.
This advisory left me feeling somewhat shocked. Police were urging residents whose 911 calls fail to try again, call from a landline or try a cellphone with another provider.
I do realize I watch too many Lifetime movies, but I’m not so sure the murderer, attacker or burglar is going to give me a chance to locate a working cellphone.
When 911 can’t be reached, this is a big issue! It could literally be life and death.
According to a report by the CBC, under CRTC rules in place since 2017, telecom networks are supposed to ensure that cellphones are able to connect 911 even without service. Anyone want to check on that?
Personally, I have one provider for my landline and another for my cellphone, just in case.
According to Global News, one in 10 Canadians is still working from home, which means a lot of scrambling and gnashing of teeth while workers tried to log in Friday morning.
Coffee shops and their parking lots were overrun by customers in desperate need of working wifi. That wouldn’t be such a bad spot to get some work done if you had any cash on hand for your coffee.
How many of us now carry very little cash? If you don’t have any then you can’t get any from the ATM. Some stores were unable to take debit or credit cards, so all of a sudden, in a society wanting us to go cashless, cash was again king if only for a day.
If Friday was your day to pay your bills online or make an e-transfer of money, you were out of luck.
Same story if you needed some government assistance at a Service Ontario outlet.
Did your grandpa keep his cash under a mattress? Maybe he was on to something. If you can’t access your own money for something you need when you need it, what good is it, really?
I am not a conspiracy theorist, but some logical, common-sense lessons we were taught might do us good:
- Keep some cash on hand for a rainy day (internet outage) emergency.
- Make sure you have extra water, canned goods, and medications on hand.
- Grow a garden so you are not dependent on stores for everything.
- Keep at least a half tank of gas in your vehicle.
- Be prepared for the unexpected.
Friday was definitely a wake-up call. We are all connected.
Even when we aren’t.
