Sunday, July 29, 2012

O.K., Now What ??? (surviving SHTF)

Somebody in an online group to which I belong recently brought up the topic of who's going to die first if there is a major catastrophe--what survivalists refer to as "SHTF" (s*** hits the fan).

Of course, really elderly, infirm people, and severely disabled people, and people who depend on electricity and/or medication (so many people don't have even a week's worth of their life-saving medications on hand) or life support, are probably going to be first.  This is not pleasant, but denying reality won't help anybody.  As an amateur survivalist, I personally try to keep a stockpile of prednisone and antibiotics on hand for myself, but if the lights went out and it got cold in the winter while I was sick, I could be in serious trouble.  Certainly leaving my home during an episode of illness would be bad.  Fortunately, where we live I'm quite likely to be able to 'shelter in place'--we're in an isolated area and I'm fairly stocked up, so I wouldn't have to venture out for supplies right away.  Being disabled is not a factor in my favor..



This morning, after my family left for church, I saw yet another piece of one of those TV shows where people get a free home remodeling.  (I haven't really changed the subject here lol)  Someone was complaining bitterly about the type of flooring in their old shower, and how people would actually want to use the new shower.  And the old one didn't look that bad!

I see this all the time.  And then I look around my house.  Our flooring is coming apart--and I'm just glad we don't have actual holes to walk around.  Some people do.   Our toilet doesn't flush right.  But we have indoor plumbing.  The other day one of my daughters asked why we have so many things on the walls.  I like things on the walls.  But the real reason is that there are holes in the decaying plaster in every room in this house.  However, the house is at least structurally sound.  I was glad when a storm a couple of years back blew down our chimney so we could get a new roof with insurance money--we were starting to get leaks everywhere.

When my husband joined the National Guard and we got the bonus, one thing we did was replace the bottom half of our kitchen.  Now our counter top is not crumbling and all of the cupboards have doors.  We would have done it sooner, but where would the money have come from?

Our furniture is old and crumbling.  Our appliances are old and cheap.  Our house hasn't been painted, we 'need' landscaping.  Our cars often don't run perfectly.  Or look pretty.

People sometimes think we need to take pride in our house.  The reality is that we're just broke.  All the time.  For years and years now.  I'm afraid to have people over, because of the judgmental attitude I've experienced several times now.

But I'm not saying this just to complain.

We buy generic, non-organic, not always healthy food, because it's cheaper.  But I remember my mother telling stories of the Thanksgiving her family had one can of spam, and biscuits made with flour and water.  She tells of outhouses, and having to walk a long way to a neighbor's house to carry water home.  Of living in a house built over an open sewer.  Of collecting bottles along streets for money, and wearing classmates' discarded clothes, and never getting a high school yearbook.  I'm sure my mother's stories have had an impact on my attitude.

We have a lot to be grateful for.  Honestly, we live in a magical time.  I get up in the morning, and the interior of my house is climate-controlled.  I flip a switch, and it's light.  Presto!  When our electricity went out a few weeks ago, one of the things I noticed was how much it sucks when you get up early in the morning and you can't do anything because you can't see.  And then there's the running water--cold and even hot.  Telephones and internet and automobiles connect me to people I might hardly ever see (or not even meet) otherwise.  And I have access to all kinds of art, music, entertainment, and knowledge on every subject, right in my own home.

And then there's modern medicine.  I (hopefully) won't get a small injury and die from infection.  I almost certainly won't die from the bubonic plague, or polio, or smallpox.  I have contact lenses so I can see.  I'm forty-six and I still have all my teeth.  I might live another forty years if I'm lucky.  Life expectancy is a lot longer than what it used to be.

This is an incredible time to be alive.



I know an awful lot of people who have no idea how lucky they are.  They're fussing over their interior decorating, lamenting that their kitchen cabinets are ten years old and need to be replaced because they're now out of style.  I've heard people go on about how they've got a lesser-paying job and can't afford to buy new clothes now, what a tragedy.  Except they already have fifty outfits. 

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for the Wal-Mart card I usually get from my family for my birthday (in a little over a month) so I can buy a couple of things.  Sometimes I've been down to one pair of pants, or one pair of shoes, or a couple of shirts.  No winter coat at times.  A purse with a broken strap.

People go on about their vacations, and the expensive restaurants they go to.  And they seem to have no idea how fortunate they are.  The actually complain about how little money they have, sitting there wearing their designer clothes and jewelry, hair styled professionally, manicured fingers and Vera Bradley purses.

These are going to be the first people to crack if/when the "SHTF".  Because they will have no idea what to do when their manicurist and hair stylist close up shop.  Seriously.  And heaven help them if the lights go out.  No cell phones.  No internet.  No television.  No showers.  Don't get me wrong--I'll miss those things and hope they come back real soon.  But I could survive mentally, short-term certainly, but long-term if I have to.  And that's the attitude that will carry the day for some people in a crisis.

Us poor people have learned valuable skills over the years.  How not to take too much pride in our appearance (don't get me wrong here--I showered today and everything).  Or our homes (yep, I've done chores, too).  How to survive when the phone or internet or TV gets shut off (because we couldn't pay our bill).  How to eat at home, with whatever we're lucky enough to have in the kitchen.  How to tolerate physical discomfort.  How to get along without medical care.

How to fix a strap on a purse and deal with the fact that we can't buy a new one right now.

Some of the wealthier people, especially if they've never been poor (or camped a lot, or something), will get up in the morning and make what might be the most important decision of their lives.  "Well, look what's happened, now what am I going to do about this?"  They'll develop at attitude of "What will I do today to take care of me and mine", and they'll use that mental attitude to cope. 

But I think many people are going to have a nervous breakdown. 

A lot of them haven't even admitted to themselves the possibility that society could ever have even a temporary breakdown.  Maybe it's too terrifying to contemplate.  Although when a minor disaster hits, I personally find myself a lot calmer with my bottles of water and cupboards of food and candles and wood stove and wood.  It's like, 'Oh, OK, this is what I prepped for, now this is what I'm supposed to do'.

While some people are having their nervous breakdowns, they might not even have clean drinking water, or food, or heat, or light, or medication, because it never occurred to them that they could be thrown on their own resources, for even a few days.

They will be in shock to find themselves in a situation where it no longer matters what kind of flooring they have in their shower.

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