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.
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I reckon that TV has a lot to do with the general apathy. The public, worldwide, is so used to seeing unreal situations portrayed in a movie , sitcom, documentary, etc that they don't consider that anything can actually hit the fan and impact their lives. Through familiarity, they have become immune to the very real possibility that their lives may be radically changed from their current level of shortsighted "entitled" comfort.
ReplyDelete"Blinders" effect.
One can only feel sorry for their lack of awareness. And hope that they wake up in time...
"Given up." As have I. Many ask me why I don't write more on the subject of preps, storage foods, and other survivalist topics. Simple, for the most part those that read my blog already have a good foot hold in survival and I feel I'm preaching to the choir. Besides, others pound the subject into the ground, and like you said, many just don't care. But trust me, we're ready. I've been 'hoarding supplies' for over thirty years. If those two women had ever had the chance to experience a few of our hurricanes they'd change their minds - well, maybe not, they'd wait until some Hollywood fruitcake gave them permission.
ReplyDeleteDani, I agree. I understand the need to escape the harsh realities of life now and then. The sad part is when folks begin to live within the escape, whether it be movies or TV or whatever escape works for them. If a person can't look around them and see the cliff in front of them, they will step off of it before they even know it is there. Or they expect that someone from the government will come riding up on a white horse and save the day. I, too, feel bad for those folks. And I have found that many are perfectly happy in their world where they wear the "blinders." I'm the crazy one!
ReplyDeleteStephen, I just have gotten to the point where I feel like it is a waste of my time and energy to try to convince people to prepare. I still will post about things like baking bread or some other tip I have found useful, but I won't write about "bugging out" or moving to a remote location or any of the other survival techniques that others write about. Frankly, those things aren't going to happen for me. The notion that a semi-elderly arthritic grandma is going to head for the hills and live off the land is ludicrous. I'm not sure that those two women would get it, even if they lived through your hurricanes or my blizzards and tornadoes. I think they would be more apt to whine to a TV reporter that they were out of food and water and why wasn't FEMA there to take care of them.
ReplyDeleteI think I am related to the sister with the basement!! I, too, am 'over the hill' and riddled with arthritis, so won't be going anywhere WTSHTF. I live on a farm and do all the 'farm stuff'. I have some hens and raised garden beds. That's about all I can handle, but I should do very well. I have a DD and her family that are like-minded and 30 miles away. We're as prepared as we can be at this point. Most of my other relatives just don't get it and probably think they can come to my door since "she cans, etc"! Rest of preps are pretty OPSEC.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
CottonLady...If you and I are about the same vintage, I'm thinking that we grew up in an era where home canning and food preservation was the norm, as opposed to something of a novelty now. Good for you, doing the farm stuff. I am green with envy. I am not in a position to garden any more or raise chickens, and I admire those who can. I hope that those who are like me, a country girl at heart stuck in the city, will realize that they still can use a pressure canner and that there are options other than a garden that are available, at least for now. My apartment will never be featured in House Beautiful, what with the shelves of home canned food and other supplies stuffed here, there and everywhere, but I won't go hungry!
ReplyDeleteMy mom is like that..every time she comes in to my kitchen she says " "hey do you know there is a grocery store in your kitchen"
ReplyDeletehahahahahaha! it is just a joke to her...
And I have heard this line from her : "nothing bad will ever happen, I don't think the government will let it get like that"
She makes fun that I make bread and Can foods...she totally thinks that because I do so that I am some sort of fundamentalist living on the side of a mountain some where in Idado..lol
As we can all see..I clearly do not live in Idaho!
JUGM...There sure is a difference in people! My mom made sure I learned to cook, can, bake bread, sew.....all that homemaker stuff. Dad taught me how to use tools and change a tire, paint a house, plant a garden and shoot a gun. I think it came from both of them growing up during the Depression in the 30's, where if they couldn't make it themselves, or fix it themselves, they did without.
ReplyDeleteI am amazed at how many folks are sure that nothing will ever happen, the grocery store will always be there, the shelves full, and our government is our nanny. BS. I learned long ago that the only person who is going to take care of me is me. With lots of help from the Almighty.
Let them laugh. You, your hubby and kids will be just fine. The ones laughing at you will be knocking on your door for help.