About two weeks ago, I put my poor mother through hell.
What started as a regular day turned into a pretty adventure-packed one. I left in the morning to go about my usual business, stopped at Refresh Fort Lauderdale in the evening and then headed to the movies to catch the midnight screening of Iron Man 2. With all the tweeting, texting and checking in, my phone was down to one bar of battery so I turned it off in case I needed it for an emergency.
We got out of the movies around 2:30 a.m. to deal with a stressful situation: We locked the keys in the car and the lights were on. Luckily we had two cars. We took the available car and hit the road en route to pick up the spare key. Finally, with spare key in hand, we got to the car to find that the battery was dead. We then headed to my house to pick up my jumper cables and was greeted by my frantic mother. It was 4:30 a.m. and I forgot to text her to let her know I was alive and what’s worst, I had turned my phone off to conserve its battery. She had called me hundreds of times and even called to wake up my brother to see if he knew about my whereabouts. Knowing that I’m incredibly transparent in everything I do, she decided to check my Facebook page and voila!
She finally calmed down after seeing that I checked in to the movie theater at midnight to catch the movie.
This was a whole long story only to say that FourSquare saved her a call to the police, hospital, morgue and any other horrifying place a mother thinks of calling when their child isn’t responsive.
Then, I got to thinking: With so many news stories on how the police catch suspected crooks via Facebook and Twitter, FourSquare could be used as a great tool to start tracking people who have disappeared, for example.
Worst case scenario: I went missing that night. My mother or even investigators will know where I was at what time of the day (assuming my check ins are honest – which in my case, they are) and even know who was with me. People who checked in to that location with me can probably answer some questions that can help find me.
I’m very picky about who I allow to follow me on FourSquare because in reality, there are some crazy people out there and I don’t want them knowing my every move, but I rest a little better now knowing that my checking in could possibly save me if I were faced with my worst case scenario, which I hope I never have to test.
My mother also got a lesson on how FourSquare works just in case she ever needs to know where I am.
Sorry to hear about the car and the craziness that ensued but what a great alternate use for FourSquare (for parents).