… is Situational Awareness.
Read this excellent piece on how things can get really bad, really fast.
I consider myself a prepper and while I did not panic, and still haven’t panicked over the COVID virus, I was happy to discover that my Situational Awareness skills are well-calibrated. I remember calling my wife back in February of 2020 and saying something like “Hey babe, there’s a non-zero chance that the Government is going to force us all to quarantine in our homes for a period of time… we need to go shopping for supplies this weekend. Worst case scenario, I’m wrong, we feel a little stupid and don’t have to go shopping for two months.” Well, she agreed and we did. Our local Target was as empty as it ever is early on a Saturday morning. We got everything we needed, including enough toilet paper to build our Federally mandated COVID fort, and then a month later it was full-on panic mode and all the shelves were bare.
It’s an unfortunate fact of Prepping that a looming disaster will almost certainly not be obvious. That’s why disasters cause panic, because no one ever sees them coming and no one is ever prepared by the time they hit. You only have to look at video of people slogging across a flooded New Orleans trying to get to the Super Dome back in 2005 to see how easily it can happen. And remember, Katrina was a Cat 5 bearing down on the city for several days before it finally hit. People just can’t believe they might be facing a real life-threatening disaster. Their brains just won’t accept it.
Well, the COVID panic turned out to be surviveable… groceries and “shit tickets” were back on the shelves within weeks… but there are larger disasters looming on the near horizon, and some of them could kill you if you don’t recognize them quickly and act before they arrive.
What if we have to flee the cities? By the time everyone realizes that they need to get out, it will be too late. As little as an hour of advance warning could be the difference between getting out alive and having your escape blocked by the mother of all traffic jams. Survivors walking through a blasted horrorscape of backed-up cars on dead freeways, bodies still rotting behind the steering wheels is a staple of every good apocalypse movie.
Don’t be that guy. Practice Situational Awareness. And if you feel that little voice in the back of your mind saying “it’s time to get out”… listen to it. Next time, the consequences might be worse than having nothing with which to wipe your ass.
Here’s your first test… “everyday products are about to get more expensive.” I’m planning to sit down and see what products we buy often and stock up on the ones that are shelf-stable… while the lines are still short. How about you?
Don’t be like these guys ^^^^^