Storm preparation: I don't get it.

[droptop]

When my power went out 5 minutes into the SUPER BOWL:fiery:, I was glad I'm always prepared for a power outage( as outages are fairly common), after a quick call to the power company, and getting a power restoration estimate of 10:00 pm I decided it was either at trip to a bar to watch the game or pull out my generator and get it hooked up. Not really wanting to go out into the snow, I chose the later and 5 minutes into the 2nd I was sitting with a beer in hand watching the game. :drink:

 

[3930dave]

Good question. There will always be the hair-trigger types out there but in "real" emergencies, people have a way of coming together. A number of towns around here were devasted by hurricaine Irene. It was heart warming to see how many people pitched in to help those most seriously affected. No one asked what political party they belonged to, what religion, or anything like that. They just rolled up their sleeves and pitched in to help.

Maybe that's the difference between the media driven emergencies, and real emergencies which often bring out the best in people?

People in large cities are encouraged and conditioned to wait for "the experts" to show up and take care of a problem. Small towns, even today, tend to look inwards for a quick solution. AKA roll up your sleeves, self reliant behaviour - something most of our grandparents would have taken for granted, and would have been confused seeing anything else acted out.

The fancy term is "social cohesion" - most "advanced" societies (supposedly our "World Class" cities are the pinnacle) today don't have any.

Progress ?

Rgds, D.

 

[jymbee]

True emergencies expose the weakness of the Rich Guy thinking..... in a Sandy event, the peasants that the Rich Guy usually calls are 100 miles away, secure in their well maintained shacks. Rich Guy is then stuck, trying to figure out which end of the screwdriver to use.

Myself, I don't lump all "rich guys" together. In my experience there's not necessarily a correlation between wealth and altruism. That is to say, there's an equal number of jerks across all economic levels. Some years ago I did estimates for a contractor where the overall territory ranged from low to middle class, to some of the highest income per capita neighborhoods in the country. That experienced shaped my opinion that there's a lot more to one's outlook on life and attitude to other people than one's personal wealh. The difference seemed to have been in the kinds of values they came to embrace as they got to whatever economic level they were at.

 

[Runner]

Rush Limbaugh was doing parodies of the "authorities" all last week warning of the impending doom. Really funny stuff.

"Folks, PLEASE don't go outside to shovel snow. This COULD lead to overexertion and that MAY lead to a heart attack. However, if you MUST go outside to shovel snow, PLEASE be sure to take lots of aspirin to help you survive the heart attack that is sure to result."

 

[clemsonfor]

When my power went out 5 minutes into the SUPER BOWL:fiery:, I was glad I'm always prepared for a power outage( as outages are fairly common), after a quick call to the power company, and getting a power restoration estimate of 10:00 pm I decided it was either at trip to a bar to watch the game or pull out my generator and get it hooked up. Not really wanting to go out into the snow, I chose the later and 5 minutes into the 2nd I was sitting with a beer in hand watching the game. :drink:

So it took the whole first half to get your generator out and hooked up!!!

 

[teejk]

A lot of people don't react well, when confronted with someone holding a different world view.

By doing your own manual labour, you were clearly an alien life form, and to be regarded as having a questionable mental state.

True emergencies expose the weakness of the Rich Guy thinking..... in a Sandy event, the peasants that the Rich Guy usually calls are 100 miles away, secure in their well maintained shacks. Rich Guy is then stuck, trying to figure out which end of the screwdriver to use.

There's the old saying "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger". Some people test that axiom with their ignorance during an emergency - many people are killed in a cold weather event because they don't understand CO exposure.

CO don't care what your trust fund, bank balance, or stock portfolio is.

Be careful out there.

Rgds, D.

Funny you mentioned the screwdriver. I offered to help an east coast co-worker replace a piece of glass. I didn't take any tools since it wasn't planned. I needed to remove the glass trim and asked if he had a hammer. Nope. Putty knife? Nope. Screwdriver? yup...something that looked like a combination ice-pick, chisel, paint can opener. Then it came to measuring for the replacement. Tape measure? Nope but his wife had one of those stretchy things used for sewing. It was a long day. A different neighbor had swimming pool and to his credit did most of his own maintenance. Twice a year I'd the knock on the door to borrow a large channel lock pliers ($10 at most stores).

 

[Lightnsound]

I get teased a bit about my prepping. A handful of people have made comments that I worry too much or spend too much time doing things that don't make a difference.

The funny part is when these same people come stay at my house for eight days because I have power and heat (and TV and Internet and food and everything else) And they don't. They also know who to call when they have a dead battery, because I keep a jump box in my Jeep. Not jumper cables, because with a jump box, I can jump start myself.

I just do what I can to help them out and hope that they learn that a bit of prepping is worth it, but I know they really don't listen and that that I'm just enabling them in their "call the guy" attitude.

At the end of the day I know that I'm ready to take care of my family, and that's what I'm here to do.

 

[3930dave]

Myself, I don't lump all "rich guys" together. In my experience there's not necessarily a correlation between wealth and altruism. That is to say, there's an equal number of jerks across all economic levels. Some years ago I did estimates for a contractor where the overall territory ranged from low to middle class, to some of the highest income per capita neighborhoods in the country. That experienced shaped my opinion that there's a lot more to one's outlook on life and attitude to other people than one's personal wealh. The difference seemed to have been in the kinds of values they came to embrace as they got to whatever economic level they were at.

V. insightful comment jymbee. I agree.

Yes, that was an oversimplification on my part. There are plenty of people who hang out on TBN, and would be classed as wealthy, and from the details they post over time, appear to be very hands on DIY'ers who value self-reliance.

Some of my friends would probably be classed as wealthy, yet are the most hands on, practical and self reliant people you'll find. Aside from great personalities, those characteristics are why they are my friends.

Actually, for me, what I loosely refer to as "Rich Guy" thinking doesn't really equate to Net Worth. Many people who never lift a finger to do anything around their house, or with their vehicles, actually do NOT have any meaningful net worth. IE. they are broke and in debt up to their eyeballs. But, in terms of lifestyle, and paying other people to do basic tasks, you'd think their last name was Rockefeller.This type of behaviour is a key factor in today's generations typically carrying much higher debt loads than their simpler-living-DIY ancestors.

I guess my main point about "Rich Guy" thinking (for the folks in the above paragraph) is that it is pretty self destructive behaviour.

High Net Worth folks..... at that level, household expenses are mostly just rounding errors.

We have a society intensely focused on wealth acquisition, as it's primary activity, and which is broadly viewed as the key survival tool..... Yet another over-generalized statement :laughing:, that I'll use to bookend my Rich Guy comment - it is only when Things Stop Working On a Large Scale do people get reminded that cash and credit cards are only secondary survival tools.

IMO, money is just another tool. If you don't respect it, or know how to use it responsibly, bad things can happen.

Rgds, D.

 

[teejk]

I get teased a bit about my prepping. A handful of people have made comments that I worry too much or spend too much time doing things that don't make a difference.

The funny part is when these same people come stay at my house for eight days because I have power and heat (and TV and Internet and food and everything else) And they don't. They also know who to call when they have a dead battery, because I keep a jump box in my Jeep. Not jumper cables, because with a jump box, I can jump start myself.

I just do what I can to help them out and hope that they learn that a bit of prepping is worth it, but I know they really don't listen and that that I'm just enabling them in their "call the guy" attitude.

At the end of the day I know that I'm ready to take care of my family, and that's what I'm here to do.

I don't like the term "prepper" because it does denote an extreme mentality. But I am always amazed that people don't stock up on items they use on a regular basis (my wife and son are guilty of that). Canned goods for instance...e.g. we like Bush's baked beans as a side dish for many things. And Kraft MacNCheese. Too many times I go to the pantry and find nada/zip/zero. It's a gallon of gas to the nearest grocery store. I'm starting a new policy here to have them list the favorites and keep an inventory so there is always an ample supply. And don't pay much attention to the "use by" dates either on canned goods/dry goods. They are a relatively new invention meant to make people throw perfectly good food away.

 

[dave1949]

I don't like the term "prepper" because it does denote an extreme mentality. But I am always amazed that people don't stock up on items they use on a regular basis (my wife and son are guilty of that). Canned goods for instance...e.g. we like Bush's baked beans as a side dish for many things. And Kraft MacNCheese. Too many times I go to the pantry and find nada/zip/zero. It's a gallon of gas to the nearest grocery store. I'm starting a new policy here to have them list the favorites and keep an inventory so there is always an ample supply. And don't pay much attention to the "use by" dates either on canned goods/dry goods. They are a relatively new invention meant to make people throw perfectly good food away.

Ha, my wife is not much for stocking up either. I do 99% of the shopping, that works. If there are 10 boxes of MacnCheese, she will laugh at me, but since I know she hates going shopping, I just offer to let her do it. :laughing: Crickets.