Thursday, October 10, 2013

To Prep or Not To Prep? This Should Not Be The Question

I debated making this my next “soap box” post because I don’t want people to look at me weird or label me as one of "those" people but then I thought about it and decided that I do want people to look at me differently. I want people to see me as the person I am, a prepared mom dedicated to keeping her family safe and who’s open to talking about it with others who want to do the same.

Right off the back let me just say that I do not believe in the zombie apocalypse and I don't consider myself to be a "doomsday” prepper but I do believe in being prepared in case sh!t happens. I know it may sound a little crazy at first but when you give it a second or third glance it makes sense, especially given all the crazy stuff that happens these days.

Around this time last year people were putting up Halloween decorations, picking out costumes and buying candy. Within a weeks’ time that turned into removing all lawn ornaments, stocking up on nonperishables and bracing for hurricane Sandy. Many families, ours included, were not prepared for the magnitude of Sandy and therefore were not as prepared as they wanted to be. We realized that we needed to be more proactive about our safety and the well-being of our family.

Job loss, power outage, fire, flood, natural disaster, so many things can happen in the blink of an eye and people need to think about what they could do to be prepared for it. Of course you can’t plan for everything but a brief plan is better than no plan.

When I go into work I’m usually very intentional about where I put my personal belongings just in case I need to get out of there ASAP. I began doing this at my last job when I started to hear stories about people getting shot because of one of the services the organization provided. I always keep my keys and wallet in my bag and my bag sits on the floor right next to my feet, I almost never use the cubical locker they provide or lock my bag in my filing cabinet. I plug my phone into my computer so that it’s charged and right in front of me to grab and go. Nothing else on my desk has any personal value and I know where my closets two exits are.

Last week while I was sitting at my desk the entire office suddenly went black; I couldn’t even see my hand in front of my face because we don’t have windows where our desks are and the backup lights didn’t turn on either. For a brief second I panicked and worse case scenarios ran through my head, then I closed my eyes (not really sure why) and reached for my phone. Just as I was about to grab my bag and get the heck out of there the lights came back on. The power was only out for about a minute but during that minute I was scared. Luckily I had a plan and it made me feel good to know that if something had gone down, I was prepared to get out.

Since I’ve started being a more prepared mom (I’m no expert or survivalist) I find myself, both at home and at work, creating “What if” types of scenarios and asking “can I quickly find xyz in the case of an emergency” types of questions.

Ex: What If I’m at home and suddenly I need to leave the house ASAP, in a blackout, can I find a working flash light, my wallet with cash in case the ATMs don’t work, my keys, coat and shoes? Then on top of that can we grab stuff for our kids as well, rushing and in the dark? Crazy right….I know, but the answer is YES, I can and you could to if you had a plan.

What if:
You had to leave your house in a hurry…
You weren’t able to go back to it for a day, 2 days, 3 …
There’s a fire…
Your car broke down in the dead of winter and you had to wait...
Your basement, where you keep your important docs, started to flood…
You’re at work and something terrible happens…
You lost your job and couldn’t find work for a month, 2 months, 3…
Your life partner left you…

We all have what if situations that could disrupt our lives but we also have the ability to think about them and to try and formulate a plan so that we aren’t up shits creek.

So, as the title of this post states, to prep or not to prep, this should not be the question.

If you’re looking for some basic information the San Francisco Department of Emergency Management has a great interactive website with tips on being prepared and know that you can always leave your questions or comments here.

Thanks for stopping by


Niki
 (If you'd like to read more about me visit my post on A Bit About Me).


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