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
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