Reasons for Paranoia

Anybody else having nagging feelings about being watched.  Being listened to.  Being recorded.  All of the above?

There was a time when I would have been happy to show people my shelves of home canned and dehydrated food.   Not to brag...well, OK.  Maybe a little bit.  We do have the right to be proud of the results of hard work.  But mostly as an incentive to prepare.  As in, "See?   You can do this, too.  And if you want help, just let me know."

That's how things used to be.  Now...not so much.

As an example, not all that long ago I had a new to me nurse come by to deal with my legs.  Now, the exit door in my apartment and the door to the room where most of my food is stored are close to one another.   Perhaps it was an honest mistake.  Perhaps not.  But when she opened the wrong door when leaving, her remarks were:  "My God, but you have a lot of food in  there.  I know where I will come if anything bad happens."

At that point I informed her that this was for my family should an emergency arise.  And then I wanted to know which one of my grandchildren should go without so she could eat.  And then I called the nursing office to let them know that this particular nurse would not be allowed in my apartment again.  Never.

It's not like we aren't being watched nearly every minute of the day.  Grocery store parking lots have a camera on every light pole.  Buying stamps at the Post Office?  Cameras whirring there.  Cameras at every busy intersection, recording where you are at any given time.

A while back I asked my son in a phone conversation to please pick up a battery operated can opener for me.  Within a couple of hours the ads popping up on my computer were for battery operated can openers.  And I don't even own a cell phone.  Those phones that are notorious for gathering private information and tracking the users.

My daughter was here a few days ago.  We talked about her upcoming trip to Montana.  In a conversation with another family member, it was mentioned that one of my grands had just finished her first year at a Wisconsin college.  Want to take a wild guess as to the subjects of the vacation ads now visible on my computers?

I don't believe the Russians will come marching down my street.  I doubt that the marauding hordes will overtake my neighborhood.  And I am not buying into the fearmongering of many of the YouTube channels, as in "Buy this gadget or you will surely die!"

However, I have 16 people in my immediate family to worry about.  With that in mind, as much as I would like to help those outside my family in an emergency situation, that's not happening.   Family first.  Always.

And I believe that those who will come knocking on the door looking for a handout are the same people who went on vacation and who feel the need to dress in the latest fashion and who have money to spend on pedicures but failed to see the need to stock up on food and water.  And now expect someone else to feed them because they didn't bother preparing.

So I am doing whatever necessary to downplay my preparedness efforts to those locally.   But I do admit to being somewhat paranoid about those who I don't really trust.  Nevertheless, the stacking and praying continues.  Hope you all are busy doing the same.