If there’s one thing that’s bothering me the absolute most about this pandemic, it’s the uncertainty. The fact that we don’t and can’t know when this will all blow over leaves me a little on edge.
And yes, I know that Thomas & I will likely be fine no matter how long it takes – due to our preps, our good health, our age, and the fact that we live in a country that’s dealt, quite frankly, incredibly responsibly about this.
Still, it gnaws at me that there’s no way to calculate how long into the future this emergency will continue – how much damage to the world economy might result, how many deaths, and how much financial damage will have been done globally as a result of this one simple virus.
Since there’s absolutely nothing I can do to quell my anxiety over these things, I’ve done my best from the very start to look for silver linings. One that I think might actually take place (yes, I said might because you never know) – I think the everyday person might become just a touch more prepper-minded.
You can tell me if you feel otherwise – if those around your areas have reacted differently. If those you know personally seem to still think prepping is for crazy people and stockpiling food, medicine, household supplies, and everything else you have at home to make transitions in and out of emergency situations easier on yourself and your family is bonkers.
I’m starting to feel even the most skeptical people in my circle, however, are beginning to come around.
And I’m not saying they’ve truly done a 180. I think a lot of people who were buying just enough food and supplies to last them the day are starting to see the benefit of buying about a week’s worth of supplies. Those used to keeping a week’s worth at hand are seeing the benefit of having a month’s.
Basically, wherever on the spectrum they were before on stockpiling and having enough for an emergency at home, I feel the peg’s moved over at least one or two spaces.
Again, let me know what people seem to be doing in your circle, and if you see mirroring cases of what I’ve seen in your own life and friend, family, co-workers, and acquaintance groups.
Does this mean that this attitude will stick past the end of this particular emergency? Maybe not. But I have a feeling the Coronavirus has caused enough damage thus far, and will continue to wreak havoc in lives in quite an extreme way.
I don’t think people will forget having lived through this one, and I think this pandemic should definitely be extreme enough for people to have their behaviour permanently changed, at least a little bit, by it. You can let me know if you agree here.
Does this mean these people who have actually changed their behaviour and maybe prep a teeny bit more than they used to will be ready if there’s another emergency? Absolutely not. That’s not what I’m implying here. And I do think having a year or two on hand in terms of supplies will continue to look crazy to people. Maybe a month’s worth of supplies will become the new “acceptable” norm, however.
I do think this emergency will result in a lot more people coming around, identifying as preppers, and half- or wholeheartedly getting into the idea of being prepared for the next emergency.
And yes, I do think the average everyday person will become more prepared than they were. Again – it won’t be enough, but it will be something – at least in my opinion.
Let me know what you think.
Yes
Haha. ;)
I don’t see much prepping going on here over the past 6-8 months. Most people at the grocery store have minimal essentials in their cart. Besides the initial hoarding, I don’t see a change. What I do see is a lot of take out food being delivered to my neighbors. And I know for a fact that many are hurting because of reduced hrs of work.
Two neighbors still go buy groceries 3-4 times a week and come home each time with very little. I have security cameras up and see what’s going on. Good thing I have a garage, they don’t see what I bring home…LOL
70 -75% of the people I work with spent their stimulus money quickly. Very few saved the money for harder times. So, I say much hasn’t changed here.
Pretty much the same situation here. Lots of deliveries and a clear malaise from the lack of employment. The longterm consequence of this remain to be seen/felt.
I’m from Bournemouth too :) small world !
No, I don’t think people will stick with preparing at all sadly.
Watching parts of the USA which are “currently” suffering a second panic buying spree, tells me that they didn’t even use the Summer to stock up on anything ! Even though there was tons of info regarding pandemics all having second waves.
Even in the North UK there have been some instances where the supermarkets have had to once again restrict purchases due to panic buying ????
People en masse just aren’t very bright…which in itself adds another facet to the preparedness philosophy.
Having to worry about what the hungry masses will do when cornered is another thing to prepare for.
All the best…cool blog ! Thanks….
Exactly, doesn’t matter what we think- we need to calibrate our plans with the masses in mind. Left b’mouth in 2018- now in Portugal! How is Dorset doing?
Not good…. the Bm’th town centre is in decline… Beales in Bmth has ceased…Debenhams,Top shop chain..all gone..
Poole is similar…Christchurch is surviving…the smaller towns like Dorchester and Bridport are faring better..perhaps because of more niche products and services.
Bm’th, Poole and Dorchester hospitals were completely full last week….
Overall though, Dorset is coping well by comparison with many other counties…which is reflected in the meagre 1% ish council tax rise this year.
Damn. Sounds like I dodged a bullet! I suspect places with their own economic ecosystem like Wimbourne are probably going to stay pleasant whilst the more fragile town centers like Bournemouth are going to keep feeling the pinch of our change in purchasing habits. I used to live right in the center- strange to think of highstreets being deserted. :/
Hello Elise, I really enjoy your posts and replies. I especially appreciate you mentioning that most people now expect someone else to take care of their needs. Many can’t see past the tip of their nose when it comes to finances or everyday life, so obviously they are not going to prepare for a disaster. I would like to send you my new book “2051” if you are interested. You would find it interesting.
I agree that the average person will become more prepared than they were before the Coronavirus pandemic. Since we live in earthquake-prone California, we prepared by storing dehydrated foods which lasts up to twenty years unopened, an emergency calling tree, a meet-up plan, an ample supply of bottled water, an emergency disposable phone, radio, wind-up charger, flashlights, first-aid supplies and a 72-hour survival backpack stored in the trunk of our car. We will ramp up our preparedness after COVID19!
Who knows when COVID19 will even end – but we’ll keep ramping up our preps and maintaining them throughout as well.
Good luck!
I was a person who has only bought enough food for the night’s dinner, I went to the grocery store every night after work. I can’t believe how stupid that idea was. Seeing how fast the panic set in and how limited the grocery stores were definitely opened my eyes, and I have been reading and preparing since this first started. I haven’t hoarded like some but I definitely wish I had started years ago to provide safety and assurance for my family. I don’t believe this will be over any time soon and have started a little at a time have bought more food supplies and water when I can. I definitely see the value in being prepared not only food and water supplies but in case power or gas goes out for any length of time! Thanks for the posts and the information to help me and my family better prepare for what may lie ahead in the future!
Definitely agree that it won’t end any time soon, good on you for seeing how you could’ve done things differently. There’s enormous value in starting to prepare even late to the game, especially in case the situation ends up getting worse somehow. I hope not, but you never know!
Good luck with your preps, Jake!
Hi Elise, well, I sure like to think they would start now, if they haven’t even in a limited way until now.
We are still in lockdown (day 15, 15 to go)
Only allowed 2 kilometres from home for exercise.
One guy jailed today (3months) for spitting at a Police officer, should have been 3 years !
Only one Death so far.
Military and Police on road blocks for this Easter weekend.
Be sensible folks…
It’s getting frustrating watching how many people seem to be taking this as a joke or a hoax. I feel like some people still don’t feel it hits close enough to home to be sensible yet, though. So depressing.
Good to hear from you and more importantly, you and yours are safe. Here in Virislavania (Pennsylvania) people appear to be stockpiling supplies to a point where the shelves are barren in many cases. Don’t you dare try to buy a can of soup, vegetables, as even online and delivery services are having a lot of out of stock basic food items, and longer delivery waits. Walmart, Amazon, and our local grocery delivery service directly from our local state wide food chain having dire issues. We received a on line order on 2 April. They had no fresh produce, TP, paper products, certain meats like hotdogs, bratwurst, hamburger and the buns to put them in, nor cleaning supplies. We’re well stocked up on TP and cleaning supplies, just wanted a bit more, just in case!
People are still walking around as shown on TV without masks or recommend social distancing. Will the sheeple change, highly doubtful. In a few months if this is winding down they’ll be back to their old ways, eating out almost daily and bare shelves in their pantries. Lessons learned are quickly forgotten in today’s society.
I’ve learned an important lesson. I wasn’t as prepared as I thought I was, and I had no real concept of daily food use until I started to track it. Using just food from our emergency pantry supplies and not yet touching my long term supplies, I then saw what I thought might be a Supply of 90 days LTS food would actually last maybe 45 days after the pantry was exhausted. This will mean I will need to restock when prices go down and shipping waits aren’t 10-12 weeks as they are now for #10 cans. Additionally I will need to double up on canned, dry goods, and non perishable emergency pantry items.
We’ve been sheltering in place since February 1. No going off the homestead, no visitors, and no physical contact with others. Doing just Ducky!
We’ve been re-stocked for quite a long time now but I have a feeling if something goes wrong in the supply lines we might be right back at that shelves-are-barren stage.
I really can’t wait until everyone masks up, but I feel that won’t happen until people begin to see friends & family fall ill or even lose someone.
I’m so glad you’ve been able to shelter in place. Good on you for being so proactive about staying safe!
Suddenly, instead of making fun of me, people I know are asking my advice. I don’t know if they are taking my advice, but at least they are asking.
My family has always stocked up on certain things. I’m a pepper myself. I find them and other people asking me for face masks and other things. I’m very prepared and their not. Guess I’m selfish by saying NO, but I warned them. These people all say that they’ll start stocking up on other things they didn’t realize they would ever need. Knowones saying I’m crazy now. Lol
Oh my god this. Then sometimes they’ll still mockingly refer to my preps? It’s a bit infuriating, wanting advice about prepping yet simultaneously hating on prepping. Can’t they pick one?
.Will the Coronavirus Make Regular People More Prepper Minded?
The answer is a resounding “NO”. You already knew the answer.
Here are the reasons:
1. There are only 24 hours in a day. When you subtract eating time, bathroom time, sleep time, food shopping time, time spent filing out tax returns and work time, there is little time left over.
2. It takes an effort to learn a new skill. It takes a willingness. The average American is supposed to be watching 4-5 hours of television a day. Is that time spent watching youtube learning how an automobile works, how to make hardtack, how to speak French, how to execute certain movements in Argentine tango? Or is the time spent watching soap operas, westerns, live police chases or biased political consultants/talking heads and meaningless political discussions in a roundtable with a bunch of women sipping coffee?
3. You have to have the experience. The Walt Disney studio stumbled onto something that you already know. One time, it was casting about how to make money. Someone suggested re-releasing Cinderella. The revenues were incredible. It turned out that there was a new potential audience every 7 years. 40 year old t.v. series are recycled in syndication and royalties aren’t paid to the original actors. If you didn’t live through the depression, you don’t prepare for the next one because that was your grandfather, not you.
4. My girlfriend’s son is in his 40s. He won’t prepare because his mommy is getting him through this epidemic. It is the fable of the grasshopper and the ant in real time.
Ha! That’s fair. That last point strikes the closest to home I think. Everyone feels someone else is going to carry them through this (even if it’s the government or the healthcare providers). So ridiculous.
Hi Elise, good to hear from you, hope you and the boy (”,) are ok. Yes I agree with you the peg has shifted out a couple of notches, grocery chains have had their best month of sales ever in March, will April be as high? I don’t think so. What amazes me is that the world has continued to function almost normally with all of us on lock down. I was talking to a few truck drivers last week, they told me they still meet 30-40 ppl a day, where the rest of us are probably meeting less than 5 ppl a day. If the truckers get the virus like front line health workers are getting it then I think the SWHTF. We’re all fine as long as food supply chains remain intact. Keep safe.
I’ve been thinking about if the garbage men get the virus, does the whole block they collect trash for then stand a chance of getting it? Same with parcel delivery folks.
*Sigh, those food supply chains I’m really hoping won’t let up, if those go down we’ve got a second emergency.