OPSEC and a special needs hired hand.

9486 Views 77 Replies 30 Participants Last post by Bullets~n~Beans, Nov 2, 2012

britzen

Discussion Starter · Oct 4, 2012 (Edited)

Bullets~n~Beans and I are about to head back up on our new land after a week back in population. We are starting from scratch in a heavily forested area and there is plenty of clearing, selective cutting of timber and prepping logs for structures to be built this spring, in addition to building up the old logging skid for year'round use, all the other fun stuff that goes with developing an offgrid dwelling.

We have a young man in his late 20's, who came with excellent working references from close friends, that we have helping us move packed items into storage and wrap up chores at our old home to accelerate the move. He's hard working, strong as an ox, and is very interested in learning more about the outdoors. We've set him up with an old pack, stove, fire starting kit, shelter and he loves learning how to use them. After having him stay with us the past week, I would put his intelligence equivalent to about an 10-11 year old, and perhaps an IQ in the high 70's, low 80's (I've had experience testing folks back in college). He reminds me a LOT of Lenny in Mice and Men. In the amount he has told us, it seems he has made some poor decisions in his personal life through being manipulated and/or being naive. He is very honest, and have no fears of theft.

We would like to hire him to help now and then at our new land, but there are a few flags that have been raised in the course of having him stay with us this week.

1- He doesn't have the best editing function, he tells us more things than we ever needed to know about his family, several are either druggies, thugs, abusers and/or manipulators. His family lives between 70-100 miles away from us.

2- He talks a LOT. But mostly because he is bored (doesn't talk much when working), and we've been told if you don't want something shared, don't let him know.

He lives +30 miles away, does not have the ability to drive right now (perhaps this spring). Friends of ours vouched he would be great on the property, and he wouldn't remember the way to the property, especially if we took the many forest roads in our area. He has expressed concern with "bad things" coming and has asked for help in planning a budget to build preps (we set him up with some bags of beans, rice, etc., which he DOES eat, and are showing him how to use them.

Most of the work we would have him do would be forest clearing, we will be handling a lot of the main construction ourselves. If SHTF, I wouldn't hesitate to take him in, but the thought is still in my mind of some relatives showing up.

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keepingon

· #11 · Oct 4, 2012

[We work with disabled vets with various degrees of mental problems, and one thing they usually appreciate is keeping the stress level low, so I would probably do the same with this young man, keep things nice and fun and focused on practical skills.]

I would be VERY careful what you say; 'little pitchers have big ears', lol! Maybe keep certain preps under lock and key, not because of theft, but more to stop stuff like: "my friends Bullet and Britz have LOTSSS of food, deadbeat cousin, maybe they could help you!", again, out of innocent sharing, not malice.
I would steer things towards simple tasks, and reinforcing verbally what you are doing there, like, "Let's clear this patch today, it looks nicer when it's neat" rather than "Let's clear this patch, it will make a great melon patch if SHTF and we need food, oh, and don't tell anyone, okay?".

Bless you for helping this guy, and bless him for being so hard working and helpful! :O)

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keepingon

· #16 · Oct 4, 2012

HandLoad said:
Blindfold Him on the Last Ten Miles In and Out. Problem Solved. OPSEC. OPSEC. OPSEC.

Sounds good in theory, but can you imagine the next story when he's with his friends/family : "....and then they blindfolded me and ........"

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keepingon

· #28 · Oct 4, 2012

Mels thinkingitover said:
I have a 27 y.o. son who functions at a 9 - 15 year old level depending on the area of functionality. He also meets no one that does not warrant any and all information that he may happen to get a hold of. If it went in his head, it WILL come out his mouth. That's just the way it is. We can train, lecture, explain, etc. and he understands and can explain it back in his own words so we know he gets it. The next day when he goes to his sheltered workshop job, if he knows it, he tells it. So, we don't store food, we buy extra when it is on sale. We keep stuff on hand for hurricanes. (The supervisors at the workshop think I am totally terrified of hurricanes. ) We explain most other things as we go because we live out in the country and it's not always easy to go to the store.

Our son is not by any means dumb, it is just there are areas that function differently. Mechanically, he can watch someone work on something and be able to work on it himself. When he gets started on a job you have to watch him or he will work until he just falls over if it is too big to do at one time. There is, however, NO filter between his brain and his mouth. So, we just make sure he has a relatively limited idea of what all we may have on hand or have the ability to do.

This young man will probably be a great worker for you. You will certainly be a great influence in his life. We learned with our son that "Presentation is everything." If, as you are getting him started on things you mention how much food it looks like you have if you buy a whole month's worth at once so you don't have to go to town very often and things like that, he may not find your food supply something worthy to remember. Competing for his mind and his mouth are going to be the tales of how he went camping, and he cleared the forest, and he helped make a place for the deer to eat, and by the time he gets through he moved the sun 4 degrees to the left. The things that are OPSEC to you are not likely to be the things that are great stories to him, and from a surface standpoint it looks like you are just clearing virgin land.

One thing to remember to do is the varied, wandering routes to your new place. Our son still goes to sleep if the vehicle moves more than 1/2 mile, maybe your worker will too and that would make it harder for him to guide the starving droves to your place.

Mel, that's exactly what I was trying to say with my previous post!

'Couch things in simple, kind of boring terms, so there isn't anything to tell!'

And you poor thing, so afraid of hurricanes........

:thumb:

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