Author of The Blackout Book and the online course Bloom Where You’re Planted
Most of us in the United States have been under some form of lockdown or restriction for more than a month now. It has been a stressful time for many due to fear, health concerns, and financial worries.
One of the biggest surprises for a lot of us has been the way other people behave when they’re under pressure. I’m not just talking about the folks you see panicking on YouTube videos or the ones you see saying nasty things on Twitter. I’m talking about the people with whom we interact on a regular basis: our family, our friends, our loved ones – the folks who make up our inner circle. The people we thought we could trust.
Who stole the wonderful, rational human beings we used to know?
You may all be locking down together, squashing you all into a smaller space than you’re used to, and spending more time together than normal, perhaps suddenly putting multiple generations together. Or you may live nearby with the plan to later stay together. It may just be the members of your family who normally live together, but not 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Either way, this has probably been an interesting look at your group dynamic. And for some of us, it may not have all been pretty.
It’s been a crash course in human behavior.
Now, this may not apply to you at all. Your lockdown experience may have been like walking back in time with the golden sunlight painting everything. Your children may have been perfect angels, content to do their schoolwork at the kitchen table in the morning after a healthy breakfast about which they did not complain, and then going outdoors in the afternoon to frolic at a safe social distance in the backyard.
You may be spending non-stressed time with your partner and remembering exactly why you got together in the first place. You may have 3 generations, joyfully cohabitating under one roof. You may be serving farm-fresh meals and wiping heinies with the toilet paper you collected over the past year and stored in perfect conditions in all that free space you have. You could live in one of those neighborhoods having the fun socially distanced block parties and swapping homemade bread for fresh eggs, a neighborhood where everyone looks after everyone else.
Or you may be like the rest of the world, wondering, “How could I have raised/married/been friends with/moved near someone so stupid/naive/ill-tempered/batcrap crazy?”
This whole thing is far from over but I think many of us are already seeing the truth of what Selco wrote about how you don’t really know someone until all hell breaks loose.
Most of the things we’ve run into have been annoying inconveniences because things, while difficult, aren’t that bad. We’re not literally fighting to the death for survival on a daily basis. Personal interactions are shockingly important and this is something many of us had underestimated up until now.
Behavior within the group
A lot of us thought that once things began to go sideways, our friends, neighbors, and coworkers would all get on board with the plan. They’d finally see that we are not, in fact, crazy and that what we’ve been doing actually makes a lot of sense. They’d congratulate us on our wisdom, they’d be grateful to be spending this time with us, and finally, at last, they’d understand that prepping is smart.
Instead, we’ve experienced things like:
- Partners trying to reign in our spending
- Loved ones who don’t understand why you’re still buying toilet paper every time you see it
- Teenagers trying to maintain their social lives
- Those same teenagers saying that you’re “hoarding food” because they saw someone talking about it on Tik Tok
- Family members still, right in the middle of this whole darn thing, saying smugly, “You’re overreacting.”
- Those in your circle who stubbornly refuse to take any precautions whatsoever, even though they’re elderly people with asthma and diabetes, because “it’s all a hoax” that you fell for
- The folks who aren’t nearly as patient and loving with your children now that they have to live with them
- Loved ones who are suffering from mental distress now that all the things that were “normal” to them are no longer an option.
At a time when you thought that everyone would finally see the wisdom of your ways, they don’t. Now, when your years of prepping are finally paying off, people are still not interested. How can this be?
These dynamics are very important and can make or break your group.
Some issues the people in your group my have had
Here’s a quick reminder: the people in your group are there because you love them. No matter how annoying, frustrating, or upsetting they may be right now, these are people you care about.
If everything has run like clockwork, you may not even need to read this article. But if you’ve been surprised by the folks with whom you’re taking shelter, hopefully, the following suggestions will be of some help.
It’s important to think of the reasons that your family members may be acting in manners that are unbecoming. This can give you some clues as to how to best deal with them.
Everything has changed.
One of the most common reasons you’ll see people acting out is because everything in their world has changed. A few months ago, they were making all sorts of plans for the year ahead, only to have everything yanked away from them without warning. What they’re feeling (and you may be feeling it too) is grief. A person who is grieving may not be the most rational soul around. They may be angry, they may be sad, they may feel completely helpless. Change is difficult to deal with for most people, so try to be extra patient with them.
They are no longer in control.
If there’s one thing that is absolutely true across the board, it’s that there are many things right now we cannot control. We’ve got new executive orders and bills cropping up on a daily basis. We have restrictions on how much toilet paper we can buy. There’s a limit to the packages of meat you can pick up on one shopping trip and only a certain number of people can be in the store at once. Workplaces are closed, leaving people without a way to make money. Unemployment is taking for-freaking-ever to come in for some folks, and they don’t have a dime to their names. For these people, it’s important to give them tasks that allow them some control.
More people are dealing with mental illness.
Currently, a lot of people are dealing with the symptoms of mental illness. For some it’s situational, and for others, it’s the worsening of a chronic condition. This is a very real problem. Prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications have increased by 34% between Feb. 16 – March 15. Suicide hotlines are reporting an increase in calls. And these are just the people who are asking for help. There are many more people struggling who are not getting help. Watch for signs like a change in sleep pattern, sudden anger, extreme sadness, panic attacks, an increase in the use of substances like drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, and unusual behavior.
Depression and anxiety are very real issues and not a sign of weakness. These mental illnesses can be deadly if left to fester. If you feel that a family member may be suffering from depression or anxiety, the CDC has advice and a list of resources that may be helpful.
People who don’t understand
Some folks just plain don’t understand what’s going on. They’re not trying to deliberately sabotage you, but remember – they’re getting a crash course – on the job training – in a topic you’ve been willingly learning about for years. There’s no way a person is going to go from their cushy 9-5 lifestyle, someone who has never known anything but abundance, and suddenly understand the importance of things like pantry inventory, rationing, and being ready to board up the windows.
Think back to when you started prepping. A lot of us started due to a natural disaster or a job loss and both of those are far “softer” events than the one we’re facing now – one with job loss, financial insecurity, and a disrupted supply chain. These folks right now are jumping into the deep end and they’re convinced that soon, everything will be getting “back to normal.”
So try to have a little bit of patience with them. They’re not trying to sabotage you when they say, “I think we have enough canned goods” or “Wait…did you just say you set a tripwire by the backdoor? A TRIPWIRE?” They legitimately don’t understand the situation, and it’s up to you to educate them as gently as possible while still keeping them from eating all the treats in the pantry because “you can just buy more next week.”
Some people just aren’t helpful in a crisis.
There are simply some people who are not useful in times of trouble. Maybe they don’t want to help or maybe they’re incapable of helping. I’ve known more than one person in my life who refuses to deal with difficult things. They just want to procrastinate until the crisis is over or pretend that it’s not happening.
If you’re a person who lives a prepared lifestyle, these folks can be some of the most difficult to deal with because it’s harder to understand their mentality. You don’t have to like it but you do have to accept that this is the way they are. Only in movies does the person who generally wrings her hands in despair pick up a tool and suddenly get the courage to deal with the situation.
If your group includes people in these categories, it’s best to find tasks they can perform that don’t require a great deal of stress or judgment. Keep them busy with the things they’re more comfortable with and put them where they’ll do the least harm. Maybe the person is a good cook. Give them some guidelines for cooking from the pantry and let them make the meals. Perhaps they are soothed by gardening. It’s a great way to keep them occupied and productive at the same time. This person might also be good with the children. Find the spot for them where they’ll do the least harm to your overall plan. As Terry Trahan wrote, sometimes you just have to take out the trash and keep even the less glamorous tasks going.
Not all of these suggestions are “nice.”
Some of the ideas for dealing with family members could cause real problems within your group or within your relationship. It’s up to you to decide whether or not the situation warrants more extreme measures. It’s something nobody can decide for you. Base your decisions on the seriousness of the situation and try to be respectful of the wishes of others as much as possible. You’re part of a family, not part of a SWAT team or a military unit.
Remember – you’re dealing with the people you love here. Temper your responses accordingly and try to understand where they’re coming from.
Don’t fight if it isn’t worthwhile.
Although it isn’t always the easiest course of action, it’s often better to walk away from an argument than to keep it going. You can’t force your spouse to admit you were right and he or she was wrong if they’re not ready to accept that yet. “Pulling rank” on family members is more likely to cause trouble than cooperation. Personal satisfaction is not a worthwhile reason to get into a fight. Do your part to keep things peaceful.
On the other hand, some things actually are worth the fight. In issues of OPSEC, your family comes first and you cannot have family members out running their mouths or giving away your supplies without a conversation about it first. The same is true for matters of security. Basically, if it’s a matter of life and death, it’s worth having an argument. Otherwise, it’s not.
You may have to keep secrets.
Regarding OPSEC, you may have to become more comfortable with keeping secrets from the members of your group. If your spouse thinks you’ve spent enough but you’re certain you need more of a certain item, sometimes it might be better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission. I’m not saying to outright lie and every situation is different. This is something that could potentially cause real problems in a relationship, so you need to think it through before making your decision to do that.
On the other hand, if you have teens who want to be generous and share your supplies with everybody, it might be better if they don’t know exactly how many supplies you have. They don’t necessarily need access to the pantry or storage area. You can disguise a lot of foods by putting them inside plain cardboard boxes and setting up a little code so you’ll know where to find what you need.
Remember, people can’t tell others things they don’t know.
Sometimes you have to let people learn the hard way.
If you have a family member who simply won’t take no for an answer, they may need to learn a lesson the hard way. Obviously, this should not be a lesson that affects other members of the group.
As a parent, I’ve always been a fan of cause-and-effect discipline. If you don’t study for your test, you fail and that is the punishment. If you don’t get up and get to school on time, you’re tardy and the school will give you detention. If you don’t finish your science project, you won’t get to take the field trip with the rest of the class to attend the science fair.
This works in preparedness scenarios too.
Say for example you’ve doled out the snack food to make it last for as many weeks as possible but you have one person who simply won’t stop helping himself, divide the snack food into quantities, and put everyone’s name on their containers. Obviously, it’s not going to take long before the snack-eater is going to run out of their snacks. It’s imperative that the other members of the family don’t share if you want the person to learn their lesson.
This can apply with all sorts of different things – if the person isn’t pulling his or her weight, he or she should not reap the benefits of everyone else’s work.
You may want to make some changes in the future.
While I’d suggest not making any major decisions when you’re ticked off or under stress, the things you’re experiencing right now may cause you to reconsider your plans for future events. Obviously you can’t kick your immediate family members to the curb with a bag of beans and rice, but folks who are a bit more distant? Cousins, friends from work, that sibling you still fight with constantly 35 years later? Sheltering together may not be your wisest or most peaceful choice.
Use the things you’re learning now to make future events run more smoothly. There may be some changes you can make to help things go a little more peacefully the next time around. This could also mean setting expectations more clearly ahead of time or even deciding that you’re not meant to be an apocalypse team.
Have you run into any complications with your group?
Tomorrow, we’ll talk about dealing with people outside of your inner circle.
What about you – did the response of anyone within your group come as a surprise to you? Share your thoughts in the comments.
About Daisy
Daisy Luther writes about current events, preparedness, frugality, voluntaryism, and the pursuit of liberty on her website, The Organic Prepper. She is widely republished across alternative media and she curates all the most important news links on her aggregate site, PreppersDailyNews.com. Daisy is the best-selling author of 4 books and runs a small digital publishing company. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
I have a “friend” who admonished me for purchasing toilet paper online. I have severe pulmonary problems and there is no way I am leaving my house and going to a store. Had my groceries delivered recently.
This “friend” said I was depriving someone with 3 kids at home of needed supplies. I did not go to my local Walmart and clear the shelves. I ordered online…there was a very brief window before items showed “out of stock.”
Her comments were hurtful and were ignorant concerning my medical condition.
Some people are just jerks.
You should take your friend with a grain of salt. I also order online. Mostly due to the distance of the nearest decent grocery store. No one knows what you need, but you. Ordering online means one less person standing in line waiting to enter a store. It also means more items left on the shelf for those in need. Not every one has a debit or credit card. Not everyone even have a bank account. Why should you risk your health due to some small minded individual? Congratulate yourself for thinking outside the box on obtaining items you need. Think about the job that some individual has delivering grocery thanks to men and women like you.
Dismiss this “friend”. You can do a lot better.
KathleenJ,
Mette and Dan are right! Some people are just jerks and certainly not ‘friends’….!
To put it another way, challenging times don’t develop character, they REVEAL it….
Hope it’s OK to copy your comment. You’ve expressed so well what I’ve been thinking for a while now.
Absolutely, Toni!
I don’t take claim to it…I just can’t remember where I heard it years ago! Blessings to you and all here!
Things have gone relatively easy here, comparatively. Small town life means fewer cases and a bit less angst, and I’m teaching from home so I still have a paycheck. Older kids were laid off and getting unemployment, but one is going back to work next week. My biggest stressor is my 92yo mother. I moved her in with me last year and so far she has told me repeatedly to donate to the hospital “our” two N95 masks that I have in a drawer, and has looked at the cabinet full of canned tomatoes, beans, veggies, etc and declared, “what a bunch of junk!” And the constant MSNBC. Sigh. It’s all good, tho. It’s loads better that life would have been had I not gotten divorced more than a decade ago!
I learned that most of the members in my group will not ever bug out, for any reason whatsoever, despite years of training together and building a solid bug-out group together. I don’t get it. But now I know and I suppose it’s back to Square 1.
One flat-out said “No, I’m not packing, I’m not ever packing, this virus is a joke, we build the group for an EMP.” I guess a global pandemic with 26 million+ unemployed and skyrocketing violence and property crime doesn’t count in his book. smh
Things may temporarily relent for a short time, but the goal is to push everyone into forced vaccinations. They will make things worse and worse until everyone submits. Expect another managed outbreak prior to the elections to throw everything into chaos.
The people who said you’re over reacting were correct. A new strain of the flu with an identical mortality rate killing fat sick old men. And now we have a cure that every study to date has shown has a 95+% effectiveness rate. Yet we closed the WORLD, and exponentially more people will die and suffer from that action than this minor flu virus. NEVER before in ALL OF HUNAN HISTORY have we quarantined THE HEALTHY! So yeah, to call this over reacting is the understatement of human history. Historians will look back at this time as the spread of the panic virus, not CV-19.
Hope you get it, hope you die
for sure, you don’t <b.get it.
why do you even come to this website with thinking like that?
too much time on your hands?
What a reprehensible thing to say, you should be ashamed of yourself. People are all individuals, have different life experiences, and different opinions, that’s what makes society great. We learn from one another, we enrich one another’s lives. When you disagree with someone that does NOT give you license to berate, insult, or wish death upon them. Grow up, or realize that you are a very sick individual.
That was certainly a well thought out response. Very helpful. (That’s sarcasm)
I see you were looking in the mirror when you said that – Self Loathing is Tough get some Mental Help or Eat a Gun either way Don’t Come Back Here. I get it kma Kill My Ass – Go Ahead No One is Stopping You.
There is no cure that has a 95% effectiveness rate. Most people survive, yes.
Here’s the deal Syrin, it doesn’t matter at this point whether the virus is as potentially devastating to the human race as it was initially portrayed to be or not. The fact remains that the powers that be did what they thought was right at the time (or their was an intentional plan to wreak havoc on society for whatever reason – lots to speculate on there).
So here we are and there are very real consequences as a result of this virus and as a result of the lockdown. Transportation of goods has been impacted, production of goods has been impacted, individuals, small businesses and large companies have been impacted. Our lives and the economy are intertwined much like a married couple (you only see how extensive the root system is when you divorce or when their is a pandemic affecting the root system).
To be angry that this has occurred is not unreasonable but it has occurred and therefore it must be dealt with, buy some long term storage foods, plant a garden, sell random things you have around to shore up your emergency fund, learn or polish skills that can contribute to the quality of your life and potentially be monetized/bartered for others.
At best, this is a good exercise. Ever watch Gone With the Wind? “As God is my witness, I shall never go hungry again”.
At worst, you will buy yourself time to adjust and or endure what is a difficult time in human history and you will find a way to thrive in the new normal we emerge toward.
Syrin, where did you get your degree in medicine or nursing, microbiology, virology, or epidemiology?
I’m sure that you already know that viruses can’t be killed, since technically, viruses aren’t living organisms, they are merely strands of DNA or RNA wrapped in a protein coat.
You can’t kill something that isn’t alive.
Antiviral drugs attempt to prevent replication of the virus, but there is no “CURE” for any viral disease.
If there were, we would see “cures” for the common cold, influenza, SARS-1, MERS, Ebola, measles, mumps, rubella, polio, CMV, herpes, Hepatitis, rabies, and AIDS, but there are no “cures” for ANY virus.
As for this “flu” killing only “fat, sick old men”, good to know that you are young and perfect.
I’ll be seeing you in the ICU…
Well we learned that my brothers’ families are not even remotely prepared. I tried to warn my dad, but he said “No, I’m sure that at least (J & K’s family) they are.” Surprised him when they asked him to pick up as much as he could find for them. None of the boys had even 1 extra package of toilet paper, let alone rice or beans, etc..
They were all telling him that he was overreacting right up until the one driving for UPS was placed under quarantine. Even now they are all trying to pretend that he’s only got the flu…sad. And I refuse to discuss what my family does or doesn’t have right now. I already know that they all want part of what comes out of my garden every year. This year their wants will become needs. I’m just trying to grow more at this point.
I have learned the hard way, that nearly all (95%) of my “friends” were not truly my friends at all, as they said my extra precautions because of my heart condition was an inconvenience to them and besides, why should they be inconvenienced just because others were old and sick? My ex even said that!. Thanks to covid-19, I now know what kind of people they REALLY are…
Wait a minute nope, is your complaint that they want the economy up and running and think it is overkill to quarantine healthy individuals so the vulnerable population is protected. You are being self-serving, you can stay home, you can order things to be delivered to your home, I bet your friends would help you (except they are scrambling now to prepare for their own quarantine).
If people were not working (there are some “essential” people who are working), your life and well being as well as everyone else would considerably less. In fact, you could die because you couldn’t get meds, food, clean water.
The economy must open because we need the goods and services that are provided, achieved by the labor of our population. Yes, everyone should be respectful of others (should always have been but now we are all hyper-aware). The vulnerable population and those that just want to can continue to sequester themselves – you don’t need the government to tell you that.
If you are mad that people want to get on with life as best we can, knowing we are all at risk of an illness (we always have been), that is a problem. Not everyone has an emergency fund, investments, a job that translate to “work at home” or that even exists without consumers being present. Shame on you, destroy the world – including you – in order to keep you from maybe getting the virus, maybe not – and you have a way to protect yourself. Shame, shame.
The Group I got shanghaied into being the leader of is made up exclusively of Combat Veterans, we have an established Base of Operations on the West Slope of the Colorado Rocky’s and we established a set of rules long ago. Everyone signed a written agreement to abide by them and during the vetting process and prospective new addition to the group has to agree in writing to live and abide by those rules and the understand the consequences should they fail to do so. What we did was with each rule the is an established consequence should you fail to abide by it, again the group as a body politic at the time came up with the rules and the “punishment” for breaking them. Would this work for everyone in that most Preppers live outside the loop any way and as a result could not operate as we do.
I have a neighbor in our mobile home park she saw me an my wife by the mail box .
She starting complaining how she can not find any masks i told her the site to go to on the internet
she said i do not go on any more can you buy them for me i will pay anything for them
after i ordered them an left the copy of it at their home she came back all attitude
an p*((y said Iam not going to pay $40 for masks we do not have that kind of money
yesterday after a 2 weeks she comes back an asks we decided we want to buy the masks
should i sell them i feel you did me wrong once now you pay the fall out for your bad decision
let me know ps love your book dasiy an emails STD keep opsec up ammo up keep prepping
Unless you need them, sell them to her and walk away, lesson learned. This is not the time to be petty (as she was) and not the time to make enemies.
Yes, by all means sell them to her. Just at a 50%+ or more markup. Call it a storage fee. Or a stupid fee 🙂
Having a rather stressful time…Havent seen the GF in five weeks because I’m a caregiver for my mom and she in a high risk group. Cant risk the GF coming over for fear of exposure and/or invection.Things are rough to say the least as the understanding isn’t there….Any suggestions?
SA
Kicked out our roommate because he didn’t see a problem with coming and going into our sequestered home.
His employer was offering work at home, and he could have called in sick and been off for a month with pay, but he didn’t want to be restricted in movement.
He said “You’re kicking me out?” and I replied “I’m not kicking you out. We have plenty of food. You’re welcome to stay. But if you leave, I’m locking the door.”
So he moved in with his mom and dad. Who are unemployed. And didn’t prep. We haven’t heard from him in weeks.
“Those in your circle who stubbornly refuse to take any precautions whatsoever, even though they’re elderly people with asthma and diabetes, because “it’s all a hoax” that you fell for”—That would be me.
I follow the rules about not going out unless I have a need. I feel sorry for the people who may succumb. Heck, it could be me, but I haven’t had ANY flu for 15-20 years and don’t find the figures for this one scary enough to make me hide under the bed. That said, I DO understand the monetary danger that we are all in and take that VERY seriously. Also, the Bill Gates vaccines have me concerned, just not the virus.
The virus may or may not be the problem at this time, the problem is that our infrastructure has been impacted. You are fortunate not to be fearful as so many are but it is prudent to prepare for the very real things occurring. Go to the store, respect the personal space of others while you are out, get what you need and wait it out. Best to you – many don’t get sick and many get it and don’t even know – yay for all of them and for you but you may regret not preparing when you are hungry.
I’ve read several of your articles and enjoyed them. This is your best, by far. Thanks. Theres a lot if good food for thought here and its presented in a very kind, loving way. Thanks again.
Amazing Observations. I will continue to Love my Family & Friends but for those I have reminded to Stock up on Food & other essentials if they Do Not – then They have made their Own beds & they will sleep in them – NOT MINE. Pray for them that’s All you can do.
Yes, the masks are off now. Of my neighbors, friends, and certainly family members that I have left. Cousin, 78, has moved from Florida back to Ohio-she seems to be in love with her uncle. She had realtors walking through her house, made innumerable trips back and forth to Ohio-staying in hotels. The movers were in her Florida house 5 days, packing her up. I said nothing-she can cook in her own stew. If she gets sick, oh well. She is so arrogant, throws her money around to get what she wants. Truly, I wouldn’t walk across the street to say hello. Surprisingly, a Bay Area friend, a leftist no less, took this seriously. She takes care of her 90 yro mother, and has been very careful about where she goes and what she does. Neighbors don’t want to go out and expose themselves-so they ask me to go for them. The good in all of this? We now know who we want to be around, we want to talk to, and how much to share. This has been a great trial run and I’m grateful for that.
This event will cause massive numbers of divorces and winter newborns. In my case it will probably be the former. I’m working from home, making good money, (and much increased hours), but the wife thinks we should provide for her family as well as ourselves. Those cases of N-95 and N-100s I put aside years ago? Share them out! The 300 lb of cut and individually vacuum packed meats? Share that too! The pallet of TP I grabbed when I saw this coming? Spread the wealth!
Her parents, two brothers, their kids & grand-kids add up to a lot of mouths. Not to mention they’re all in various trades that are essentially idled right now. Am I being selfish? Probably.
But given she hasn’t worked in almost twenty years, and I work my @ss off – it rankles.
We only have two towns in our county. My town has four people living in it. They throw us that live on ranches in with it. The other town has around 600 or so people. The only places to eat is the gas station and one BBQ place. They are still open. We have no grocery stores in our county although the gas station keeps a few grocery items. We have no feed stores either. To be honest except for the court house being closed to customers nothing much has changed. Everyone has to travel to get supplies unless they can afford to order online. However most of the citizens here are on welfare. The only hardware store in town has refused now to take cash. He only brings stuff to the door, no one goes in his store only because he is afraid of getting sick. He has a lot of health issues.
My husband read an article about the symptoms of the virus. It said that patients turn blue when removed from the respirators. Pat’s background is nukes and non-conventional weapons. He looked up the symptoms of cyanide poisoning. The symptoms read almost word for word the same. Pam teaches a homeopathic class online. She lives in Washington State. Pam talked to a nurse that worked in the nursing home where all those elderly patients died. The nurse told Pam that that morning all those individuals had red eyelids (not the eyes, but the eyelids). I have not seen anything that talks about that in anything I have read.
I have been sharing eggs (duck and chicken) with friends. Everyone is claiming that they can’t get eggs. Just remember the vaccines are incubated in eggs. Maybe that is why there is a shortage.
I love this article. I want to comment so bad, but not hurt feelings. So I’m gonna go ahead. IM IN SHOCK.
For some reason idk or understand, this happened.
I met my husband 6 years ago. And for that entire 6 years his two brothers have droned, bragged and prided themselves on what such awesome preppers/survivalist they are. I have heard it all. Hundreds of times. How they are going back to bug out to the woods all the guns and ammo they bought
etc… on and on..and then, corona virus happened.
We immediately contacted them in the very very early moments to strategize and we were both stunned when they sneered and mocked us for even bothering them. We listened dumbfounded. Like we didn’t even know them.
We thought, ‘were they listening to cnn or something?’ So yeah. I loved this article. We were suddenly being ridiculous and it’s no big deal yada yada. … Needless to say we did our thing, and when one of the brothers smirkingly said, “i’ll Just come to your house and eat..” !! WOW.
My husband laughed out loud and said ‘are you kidding?!’
So yes, it certainly goes to show how well you do not know just how people will react when SHsTF. (BTW: we did tell him if he wanted to eat he could barter supplies for raviolis) but that he’d better put his money where his mouth is because if things got worse (thankfully they didn’t but it ain’t over yet) he would be on his own for letting us think he was all in and then backing out scornfully when something actually happened.
It’s an age old phenomenon I suppose. Truly an eye opener. Daisy, fantastic article thanks !!!!!
You do realize that cnn was taking this pandemic seriously and fox was calling it a hoax, right?
One nice story. The commissary at Fort Sam Houston would not let my 86 year old father in because he had no face mask. My mother had a turtle neck style shirt so she pulled it up over her mouth and went in. My dad was standing outside the car (he couldn’t figure how to open the car door with the clicker due to his dementia/beginning Alzheimer). A truck pulled up and the driver asked if the commissary was crowded? My dad said he did not know because he did not have a face mask. The gentlemen pulled out a face mask from his trunk and gave it to my father. My father was able to join my mother. There are still nice people out there.
We learned that our son, whom we live with in his house, and is a 46 year old electrician, needs to be doing something productive, or he gets grouchy. We are an old retired couple who are used to staying home and not doing much but putter around the house. We only go to town for medical appointments and the occasional grocery run, so we are used to staying home. He, on the other hand, has been working 6 days a week for awhile now. So after catching up on his sleep for the first few days, the grouchy started to come out. He’s not big on reading or playing games. He is used to “doing.” So we got him to make some roof repairs and beef up the fencing and perimeter security. Then he and I started making fabric masks for family members. From there, we went on to make a bunch of extra ones for him to sell when he goes back to work on Monday. He figures that he runs into enough people with his job that he will be able to get rid of them. So Daisy is right. People need something to do that fits with who and what they are.
Keeping sick people in their homes is a quarantine.
Keeping Healthy citizens in their homes is TYRANNY!
Survival is the Best Revenge!
As neither my wife or myself are very sociable, I haven’t noticed any of the problems you’ve highlighted. The few friends and family we stay connected with, share similar views and that’s probably the main reason why we’re not seeing these problems.
I think there are 3 ways of looking at SARS-2/COVID-19.
1) It’s all a hoax, and the powers that be will use this virus as an excuse to consolidate power, exercise greater control over the population, and increase surveillance.
2) The virus is real, but not nearly as infectious or lethal as is being portrayed, and the powers that be will use this virus as an excuse to consolidate power, exercise greater control over the population, and increase surveillance.
3 The virus is real, but much more lethal and infectious than we are led to believe. The powers that be will use this virus as an excuse to consolidate power, exercise greater control over the population, and increase surveillance.
Any way you look at it, the populace is being screwed by the powers that be.
I choose to believe that this virus is far worse than we are being led to believe, that the severity is being downplayed/minimized (a good way to get rid of a lot of Social Security, Medicare, SSI, Medicaid and welfare recipients), and so we will take the appropriate precautions until we are proven wrong.
Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.
Well, if you don’t have a paycheck and haven’t had one because of local, state or federal shut down issues, just simply do what President, er, I mean, Governor Cuomo said to do. Just get an “essential” job. He said it’s a simple solution if you need a paycheck. If there are no essential jobs where you live with your skills, and they are only available in say, New York City, simply sell your house, move your family and all your belongings to NYC (simply find a moving company or rental truck who’ll do it for free since you’re currently broke), apply for the essential job and voila! a paycheck two weeks later. Problem solved! It’s easy. President, er, Governor Cuomo said so. Remember, he’s the governor and you’re not so his solution is best. Otherwise if your old job opens back up too early, you’ll die. He said so himself (and remember who’s governor and who isn’t).
Reading through the comments, I realized once again how truly blessed I am. My husband has end stage copd, so I’ve been doing all these protective measures for years now. I hate crowds, so usually shop around 4 am when others are still in bed, thus avoiding exposure. I also, for years now, have been buying ‘extra’ of whatever (not 1 can of green beans, but the 4 pack, that sort of thing). Since we shut down on March 13, our children have daily checked in with us asking if we need anything. They do come over on nice days and we can watch the grands play in the yard and grownups sit about 20 feet downwind from us so we get face time to visit. They came over and tilled, planted my spring garden and cleaned the chicken coop. While at it, they filled the gas cans for the mowers and the propane tanks for the grill. These are all things I am perfectly capable of doing on my own, as my health is good and I am still working (essential). And, guess what? They are doing the same things for their neighbors and church family who need help. I love my family dearly.
get out of all groups and just be with a few cherished people. the lesson from jesus and the 12 disciples is if you have 12 close associates, at least one of them is a frenemy. families, not groups. individuals, not groups. groups get infiltrated by those you are trying to avoid.
Love your stuff daisy! It’s nice to test the preps once in a while but I’m still glad the lights are still on. Still not sure if it’s a conspiracy theory to get Bernie sanders elected this fall. I had to sit out for two weeks due to an early exposure(I’m a nurse). My wife is working from home and this article rings too true!
First time commenting here, despite reading on & off over the last 5 years (already!)
My inner circle of closest & trustworthy friends is actually spread out across Canada. The closest one lives 2 hours away from me, the others live 10+ hours away.
I am blessed with a loving, caring, & patient wife; but she is naive & takes the city conveniences for granted. Thankfully she does not protest too much when I procure supplies. While she prefers fresh foods instead of canned, she understands why I stock up on canned goods; and her “protest” is only because she fears wasting money. As Daisey mentioned above, I patiently educate my wife on why I do certain actions, and she accepts them.
My other friends & I are frequently exchanging tips on ways to prepare tasty foods, treat certain ailments, & staying healthy. I also barter trade with my friend 2 hours away; for example, motor oil & “exotic” city food for his bear & deer steaks.
I never included my wife in the preps. She always thought is was a waste of money and brain power.
When the quarantine happened, we needed nothing and still don’t. This got her excited. We went on a date to the grocery store at the beginning Just to watch the panic buying.
She became fully interested and invested in participating.
I go to the store every few days for fresh vegies and to do recon
We have been having a ball. This has been the best of times and the most fun since the kids moved out. We are the “keep busy types” so We make a task list every week and work the list all week. Our place has never looked better.