Overheard on the Bus

Riding a bus is sometimes boring, except for the fact that most of the drivers come equipped with a good sense of humor.  So some days we trade jokes or laugh at the silliness around us.  Other days it is fun to just sit back and listen to the conversations around me.

The other day, one conversation sort of peaked my interest.  Mostly because of the fact that, as you all know, I am deeply into preparing for any future problems.  There were two 30-something women sitting right behind me, talking, but not trying to keep from being overheard.  Yes, I eavesdropped.  So sue me.

One of the women was talking about her sister.  She said she was getting worried about her.  She said that she had gone to her sister's house.  Apparently her sister has a basement full of shelves.  The shelves are full of canned goods and toilet paper and buckets of sugar and flour and oatmeal and all sorts of stuff.  She just couldn't understand what was wrong with her sister that would make her stockpile all that stuff.  She thought sister had become a hoarder.

Her friend thought that maybe the sister just thought that the grocery prices would go up because of the drought in the western states and she was buying up stuff before that happened.

And the first woman said.......




are you ready?.........




wait for it.........




"Oh, that won't ever happen here.  Nothing will change.  That's just crazy."

I am so proud of myself.  I resisted the urge to turn around and slap some sense into that woman.  But I really, really wanted to.

I'd be willing to bet that when things get bad, she will be knocking on her sister's door, begging for something to eat.  God help those people who refuse to believe that things can change, sometimes overnight.  I'm pretty sure that the people of London didn't think anything would change just before the German Luftwaffe started dropping bombs on them during WWII.  And neither did the residents of San Francisco minutes before the earthquake of 1906 turned most of that city into burning rubble.  Same goes for the people of Japan on March 11, 2011, when the earthquake and tsunami caused thousands of deaths and the resulting meltdowns at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant, the effects of which are still ongoing.

I just don't understand the apathy.  Minutes later, these same women were talking about some TV show they had watched.  They spoke of the characters in the show like they were neighbors and friends.  Sorta creeped me out.

I have pretty much given up trying to get people I know to understand the importance of preparing.  So many watched that National Geographic series, "Doomsday Preppers," and think that anyone who stores food and supplies is a nut job who has an underground bunker and runs around shooting up the woods on weekends.  Or, like that woman on the bus, thinks that anyone with preps is a hoarder.  So I will just continue to do what I feel I should do to make sure my family is taken care of should a crisis situation arise.....and keep praying that it doesn't happen.  Sometimes, that's all we can do.