Preaching to the Choir?

It is personally shocking that we’re already in September. They say time moves faster as you age, and I can attest to that!

Nonetheless, September happens to be “National Preparedness Month”, so here I am again to implore any and all readers to embrace preparedness and set aside a little time this month to work on your personal and/or family plan.

I know ” prepping” and “preppers” get a bad rap, and if you only look at the fringe elements I can see why. But honestly, it’s just a little common sense, mixed with a touch of planning ahead. It doesn’t have to be anything off the wall crazy, it doesn’t need to become your lifestyle, but there is really no downside. Think of it as an insurance policy or a savings account. Worst case scenario, you save a little money buying food you were going to eat anyway because you bought it before inflation devalued our dollars just that much more. Best case scenario, it could in fact save your life. Or at least make post-disaster a little more bearable while you put your life back together.

Let’s face it, in an emergency the LAST people you want to rely on is The Government. Nobody is going to care about you and your family as much as you are. So do something about it while you can. Even a little something is better than nothing.

I’m not going to go into all the details of what you should do – there are countless other resources for that. But for this month, just worry about the basics: food, water, shelter, first aid/medical needs, hygiene…and don’t forget to include your pets in the planning. They rely on you too!

If the whole pandemic thing taught us anything (aside from the fact that you can’t believe anything the media or the government says!) it’s that disruption can happen quickly and once something is no longer available, that’s it. It doesn’t matter how much you need it or want it or how much you’d be willing to pay. If it’s not there, you’re outta luck. That something may come back, it may not. Maybe in a month, maybe in a year. Maybe never.

There is already a lot of chatter about new “variants”, mask mandates and lockdowns. The war is eastern Europe is not going well for anyone and the house of cards in D.C. seems to be on the verge of tipping. China is having financial problems, and “activists” are turning into arsonists to show us how bad climate change is… Not to mention the usual suspects of earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, and all the other stuff Mother Nature does from time to time to remind us who’s boss.

Look, I know. This stuff isn’t fun. It isn’t sexy or exciting. In fact if you think about it too much, it can give you anxiety and stress you out. The “what if’s” you discover when you start going down that rabbit hole can shake you to your core – ask me how I know. People that do emergency stuff for a living look at people two ways in an disaster situation, you are either an asset or a liability. If you are squared away to take care of you and yours for a week with no outside input, that puts you in the asset column.

That’s a good place to start- put back enough that you can get by without assistance for a week…enough food and water to survive, a way to charge your phone or laptop, some basic first aid stuff and meds if you require them. A way to see and cook if there is a power outage. Simple stuff.

I feel by now if you’re seeing this message and you’re not already doing at least a little something, you’re never going to. That the people that understand are already doing it and I don’t need to keep harping on the subject. That I’m preaching to the choir. That’s OK. I gave up trying to convert people to this way of thinking a number of years ago. Prepare or don’t, makes no difference to me. After all, the emergency response people will need liabilities to deal with, lest they get bored!

But seriously, I look at self reliance in an emergency as a civic minded thing too. If more of us looked after ourselves and our neighbors, there would be even less need for Uncle Sugar and all his beauracracies.

Take care of yourselves out there!

Thanks for stopping by!