Posted by Silver Linings
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Sep 25, 2023 at 1:22 pm
Silver Linings is a registered user.

“ …there have been cases of victims being so scared they forget how to dial 911.”

This is especially a problem with smart phones which are not as useful as some of the older candy bar phones when it comes to being able to discretely press a button on a small thing in your pocket and know it will reliably call emergency, yet without accidental butt dialing. The loss of such phones as emergency devices is probably the major downside to ending 3G—they had almost endless battery life compared to smart phones, were pocket sized and easy to set up for one-touch emergency dialing without looking at them, and many were hard to accidentally butt dial 911. Some were better than others at striking this balance, but most were better than bewildering smart phones which can’t call 911 without at least some interaction and decisionmaking, such as pressing the 2 opposing buttons on an iPhone then swiping to call emergency.

Plus, it is just a fact that people can get confused and forgetful in a crisis—not only is there no clear and intuitive way to contact 911 without looking at a screen at least for some of it, there is no really standardized process that would help make it more automatic in emergency situations. Plus it’s not that easy to pop a smart phone in one’s pocket the way it was possible with a simple candybar phone. Smartwatches could take on that role, but the months of power on standby or infinite on off between charges of some 3G candybar phones will be hard to match, and of course not everyone wants to wear a watch.

A good realtor is so helpful to finding or selling a house, I hope the safety issues can be better mitigated. I wonder if real estate organizations can come up with measures that deter criminals so well, and publicize those, fewer even try?

Are any of the safety issues related to the current moment, in which workers from healthcare to education to travel have experienced harassment related to politics, such as when wearing masks?

Posted by Jennifer
a resident of another community
on Sep 25, 2023 at 9:11 pm
Jennifer is a registered user.

I never thought of Real Estate being a dangerous profession. So, I clicked on the article. In 2022, 98% reported "No, haven't been a victim of crime." In 2023, 95% haven't been victimized. There's inherent risk in everyday living. I wouldn't suggest telling a police officer, firefighter, iron worker, etc. how dangerous your job is. It won't sit well.