Whenever I’d get upset about not understanding why someone was doing what they were doing or thought the way they did, a friend always used to remind me that “not everyone thinks like you do”. That adage sounds simple on the surface but I’ve realized that it is a profound truth and of critical importance to us preppers.
At the time that I’m writing this we are immersed in the COVID-19 pandemic. I watched this coming, from the earliest days when the first reports of some strange new Coronavirus associated with the market in Wuhan was briefly noted online. That made the little hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I thought, “Uh oh, SARS Take- 2”. But hardly anyone else seemed to pay attention. I watched with dread as it grew to epidemic proportions in China but it seemed that most here in the US, and the rest of the world for that matter, were oblivious, focused on other things like the impeachment proceedings or sports and celebrities. I started doing some extra preps, particularly difficult as I hadn’t bought my current home yet and was a pet sitting nomad at the time. Still, I started hitting the stores and buying what I could manage to transport back to Vermont in my sub-compact car. And making “to-do” and “need” lists, lots of lists. (And yes, being a “nomad” was a break in my preparedness but a risk I had decided to take).
I watched with ongoing dread as the first case was found in Washington state. I called my mother who lives in New York City (NYC) to “have the talk”. A lot of good that did. My mom is a city girl through and through and not a prepper. She just couldn’t even imagine that she might need to hunker down in her apartment and not leave. The idea of staying off mass transit, avoiding crowded venues, stocking up; all off-putting to her. I told her I was sending her some masks(N95). Explained what they were for and how to use one properly. And of course even as the virus was proclaimed a pandemic, as it made its way to NYC (what a surprise!) she continued to attempt to go about life as usual. Even after it got really bad there and she finally agreed to stay off the trains, she continued to take buses and go shopping in stores. (Her rejoinder: “But they’re small stores”!) My brother who lives with her did the same. And no, they didn’t wear the masks I’d provided because they didn’t “need” them , it would look weird and that was something “only Asian people” did!Continue reading“Reaching Out to Others May Save Our Lives, by Ani”
