(Home for thanksgiving, and good god, does it feel good to be able to type on a keyboard instead of a cellphone)
Increasingly, as things look more and more desperate, my friends are making comments about arriving at my place if the balloon goes up. These are not chumps, these are life long friends who have valuable skills, tools and good heads on their shoulders.
The night before last, one of my oldest friends said the same thing, "Man, if the s*** goes down, I'm heading to your place."
I've known this kid since I was 8, but we only see each other when we return to the old neighborhood at holidays, so he wasn't quite aware of my positions on certain things. Calmly, I said, "Man, you come up without food, I'll F***ING shoot you myself."
His eyes got as big as saucers. I continued.
"I have enough food to put myself and my wife through a month. My friends who plan on coming out if things get bad? They all have food too, the least prepared of our crew has two months, the most has a year. You want to try and make it to my place, you start putting food aside now, put it in boxes, and load it up BEFORE you start packing tools, if you come up hungry, I'm giving you some snare wire and a free pass back to the end of the county road."
What followed was a two hour conversation as I explained what was needed to live without society. Occasionally, he would drop into MMM (Mad Max Mode) and talk about stocking up on guns. I checked him, and explained that beyond a single appropriate firearm, you're wasting your time if you buy guns and not food.
By the end of our drinking session, he had a whole new perspective, and I even felt he might be a possible addition to the gathering that will occur if people need out. To be fair though, he still doesn't have my address, nor will he get it before the next holiday season when I can see how much he has stocked.
As I live in the middle of nowhere, with hundreds of thousands of acres of forest behind me, it is not uncommon for friends to make remarks like "Man, if the zombie apocalypse ever happens, I'm coming to your place." I have found that setting criteria for arrival actually seems to work in situations where it is good people with good intentions making the comments. . .
In another situation, a newer friend; who I really like and who I think has almost no chance of surviving alone, went out and immediately bought a two month supply of dried and canned foods. A few weeks after our initial talk, we were hanging out in his living room when his fiance jumped up and said, "come look, come look!" and took us into the spare bedroom. She pulled open the closet and there was the start of a very decent food store. They proudly showed off cans of chicken and bags of beans, grilling me on ideas of what else to stock up on.
As a caveat emptor, a co-worker once made the same remark. This is the acquaintance who seems to work hard to try my nerves. I turned to him and simply said, "No way in hell man, I'd rather die than survive with you."
So, I know alot of you work on the notion of secrecy. For me it is impossible, as many of my friends routinely come to my place for BBQs, to help with projects, etc. None of them know that I am prepped for whatever, they simply know that I am isolated, and to the uninformed who still think that if society falls apart they can hunt deer and eat pine needles, that is enough. For the people who I would like to have around post-event; those with good hearts and soul and strong minds and bodies, I feel that it is better to tell them, straight-out, what you would expect. There is always a chance they will show up anyways, and often, the good ones.... they listen.
-G
(I really really miss being able to post on a real computer!)
Increasingly, as things look more and more desperate, my friends are making comments about arriving at my place if the balloon goes up. These are not chumps, these are life long friends who have valuable skills, tools and good heads on their shoulders.
The night before last, one of my oldest friends said the same thing, "Man, if the s*** goes down, I'm heading to your place."
I've known this kid since I was 8, but we only see each other when we return to the old neighborhood at holidays, so he wasn't quite aware of my positions on certain things. Calmly, I said, "Man, you come up without food, I'll F***ING shoot you myself."
His eyes got as big as saucers. I continued.
"I have enough food to put myself and my wife through a month. My friends who plan on coming out if things get bad? They all have food too, the least prepared of our crew has two months, the most has a year. You want to try and make it to my place, you start putting food aside now, put it in boxes, and load it up BEFORE you start packing tools, if you come up hungry, I'm giving you some snare wire and a free pass back to the end of the county road."
What followed was a two hour conversation as I explained what was needed to live without society. Occasionally, he would drop into MMM (Mad Max Mode) and talk about stocking up on guns. I checked him, and explained that beyond a single appropriate firearm, you're wasting your time if you buy guns and not food.
By the end of our drinking session, he had a whole new perspective, and I even felt he might be a possible addition to the gathering that will occur if people need out. To be fair though, he still doesn't have my address, nor will he get it before the next holiday season when I can see how much he has stocked.
As I live in the middle of nowhere, with hundreds of thousands of acres of forest behind me, it is not uncommon for friends to make remarks like "Man, if the zombie apocalypse ever happens, I'm coming to your place." I have found that setting criteria for arrival actually seems to work in situations where it is good people with good intentions making the comments. . .
In another situation, a newer friend; who I really like and who I think has almost no chance of surviving alone, went out and immediately bought a two month supply of dried and canned foods. A few weeks after our initial talk, we were hanging out in his living room when his fiance jumped up and said, "come look, come look!" and took us into the spare bedroom. She pulled open the closet and there was the start of a very decent food store. They proudly showed off cans of chicken and bags of beans, grilling me on ideas of what else to stock up on.
As a caveat emptor, a co-worker once made the same remark. This is the acquaintance who seems to work hard to try my nerves. I turned to him and simply said, "No way in hell man, I'd rather die than survive with you."
So, I know alot of you work on the notion of secrecy. For me it is impossible, as many of my friends routinely come to my place for BBQs, to help with projects, etc. None of them know that I am prepped for whatever, they simply know that I am isolated, and to the uninformed who still think that if society falls apart they can hunt deer and eat pine needles, that is enough. For the people who I would like to have around post-event; those with good hearts and soul and strong minds and bodies, I feel that it is better to tell them, straight-out, what you would expect. There is always a chance they will show up anyways, and often, the good ones.... they listen.
-G
(I really really miss being able to post on a real computer!)
