Mom or government?

It’s tornado season here in Ohio. This afternoon as a few funnel clouds were forming miles from my house, I received a call from my mother living in Florida. Seems she was not about to wait for her son to make his yearly Mother’s Day call as she had urgent news. CNN and other news outlets were reporting funnel clouds and tornados in central Ohio, with my county noted as a likely target. This was sometime before 2:00. I turned on the TV and hit the web for detailed updates. Luckily, the storms passed overhead without even a significant touchdown. With the menace long gone, I received another phone call; an automated call from the county 911 department notifying me of the tornado warning. This was 2:25, with the warning to expire at 2:30. And, more importantly, with the storms no longer in the county or even a threat to adjoining counties. Then I learned that Franklin County — just to my south — also had a delayed tornado warning because “Franklin County EMA deputy director Jim Leonard said the communications room is not manned during weekends and holidays, but there are two people on-call at all times.” Do I complain to management? No way. Those folks are looking for complaints as a means to justify additional funding. Do I keep my mother happy? You bet! Her warning was neither delayed nor costly. Remember mom, and not just on Mother’s Day.