So have any of you had that totally awkward conversation where someone tries to make you feel crazy for getting prepared, and you try to convince them it’s the smart thing to do? If so, would love to hear all the drama ;)
I was actually discussing this with a friend the other day, because her family will even go as far as buying emergency items to help family out and they will just throw it away! So what do you do to help someone who doesn’t want to help themselves?
G. Michael Hopf is joining us today to give his thoughts on this very topic. Just in case you haven’t read his books, he’s not one to beat around the bush, instead he just chops it right down ;) There’s no questioning what he’s thinking or where he stands on certain issues.
Maybe convincing your family to prep isn’t something you want to worry about right now, but if you’re putting together an emergency plan and your family is apart of it, you might want to check out what he has to say.
The Family That Preps Together…
We all know how the phrase ends. “A family that (insert word) together, stays together.” Many of us would agree that a family that does anything positive together is usually a happy one. This article though isn’t about just doing anything, this is about something very specific and that subject is prepping and the family members that don’t.
I would be willing to wager that everyone that calls themselves a prepper has had the conversation with family members and friends about the need to prep. This is a situation that every, and I mean every prepared minded individual has had to deal with.
I get asked a lot if my family preps. The simple answer to that is, yes, for my immediate family, i.e. my wife and young children, but when looking at my extended family, the answer is a big, NO!
For me, prepping is a state of mind that is grounded in the core belief that YOU and only YOU are responsible for your own well-being. The key word in that last sentence is
responsibility and it’s one that I use often when I discuss prepping with extended family, specifically the ones that are skeptics.
Dealing With The Skeptics…
For me personally, my attempts at winning over the skeptics in my family have stopped. The old saying is, you can lead a horse to water… blah blah blah. It’s very true.
The excuses I’ve heard are the same as you’ve heard. It ranges from total disbelief that anything could happen to,
“I wouldn’t want to live if something apocalyptic happened. I’d rather die.” The last one still leaves me in disbelief.
Another comment I get from friends more specifically is,
“If something happens, I’ll just come to your house.” My response to that is, “No you won’t.” It’s like me telling my more financially savvy or well to do friends that I’ll come to them when I need money. You can imagine what their answer will be.
It was the
“just give up” mentality that lead me to “just give up” on some of my own extended family members as it pertained to prepping. You might have been thinking that I was going to give examples of how you can convince those skeptical ones to come over and embrace a prepared lifestyle. Nope, that’s not what my focus is. Many others have given little tidbits of advice on this matter. And my experience has shown me that it can be almost impossible to persuade family if they’re dug into their position. These conversations can mirror debates on politics in some settings and hence get very personal and petty.
I have wanted for a long time to create a dialogue and to open a discussion on doing what might be one the toughest decisions you’ll ever make,
Giving Up On Family Members…
In my books, I put characters in what are difficult situations, if they go left someone dies, if they go right someone dies. Either way they go, someone will die. So, they must make a choice.
So as to not waste more time, I’ll just cut to the chase. I suggest you have one final conversation to persuade those family members that a prepared lifestyle is in their best interests. If they rebuff you again, I suggest you finish by saying something along the lines of,
“I’m sorry to hear that, but please understand, that I will not be coming to help you if something does happen. This isn’t personal, I just need to make a plan and if you’re not involved that helps me finalize the details of my plan.” Of course there are a hundred different ways to say it, just know that your decisiveness might cause them to stir and it might be hard for you to just feel like you’re abandoning them. Remember though, if they have no interest in preparing and planning then you cannot go out of your way to come for them. You are not the one abandoning them, they’ve abandoned themselves. Be forewarned, this frankness could cause some very tense Thanksgivings down the road but it has to be said.
I came to this determined stance over time, I evolved to it you could say. I have felt obligated to look out for my family for a long time. It’s been in my bones since the day I joined the Marine Corps back in 1989. I have always wanted to protect others. Something shifted in me though once I became a father to my two little girls. I look at them as the innocent and fragile that must be defended with my life. I thought of them trying to survive in an apocalyptic environment or even in a post hurricane, tornado situation without me. That thought of them alone frightened me. My focus on who was most important to protect changed and changed forever.
Children don’t have a choice in whether they can prepare, adults do and if adults in my family weren’t willing to lift a finger to provide for their own protection or survival, why should I risk myself and my resources for them when it should go to my children. I know some of you might be reading this and thinking that I’m being harsh and that all I need to do is just get enough for everyone.
Let’s Be Honest…
While some may have the financial resources to do so, many don’t. Plus you have the other part of prepping equation that is overlooked, it’s the planning part and the ability to react and bug out. If you have several or half a dozen family members who live close by and have no interest in prepping, should you waste precious time attempting to gather them up? Would they even comply? You would think that once an event happened they all would want to be saved, but what if they still don’t? Are you willing to go out of your way, change your plan and risk your children so they can tell you,
“no thanks.”? I for one, say, “No way!” I know what I’m writing here might come as a shock to some or even heartless, but who is being heartless and selfish in this situation? All I am advocating is having an open and non-judgmental communication with the skeptical ones in your family. Make sure they know that they are signing on the line that they wish to decline help. This way you can make a plan, and execute it when and if the time comes. Clearing things up will give you peace of mind to make your bug out plans. A suggestion for you though if having the nagging feeling that you’re letting them down, which is silly because they let themselves down by not prepping, is to give them the location of where you’ll be. Then when something happens they can come and use the resources you’ve stockpiled since they won’t have anything. (Pun intended, in the last statement, but it leads right to the next situation)
So, Do You Help?
If you think having to sit down and having that conversation with your family members was hard, then you won’t like this.
This situation sounds like it’s right out of the game Conflicted. You’re sitting at either your bug out location or you’re bugging in. There has been a large event. Stores are closed. Government response and aid is very limited. A knock at the door, you answer it and guess who’s there? The skeptical relatives and they’re asking for help. What do you do? These are the same relatives you had that one on one conversation with and they flat-out told you they had no interest in prepping and didn’t want to be helped. Now here they are at your door. You have resources for you and your family and if you take them in, your resources will be depleted in half the time. Now we have a tough, very tough decision to make.
I, for one, would hesitate assisting them, but I seriously don’t know if I could say, NO. It’s one thing to theoretically sit there and have the fortitude to turn them away, but in reality would you? Could you? Of course if they had a skill set that could benefit everyone then it makes sense to do an exchange. For example, he/she is a doctor; you need that skill set to survive, etc. But what if they’re elderly, they offer no exchange of skill for food. Do you take food off of your children’s plate and give it to them? This has to be one of the toughest decisions we might have to make. I, for one, have had this quick knee jerk reaction to say, no, but I just don’t know how I’d react looking at them at my door.
Will You Have The Talk?
I don’t have all the answers, I have my opinions. I offered these two very important but overlooked parts to our prepping equation. You can have all the resources, equipment, but if your plan is not finalized because of unresolved issues then you really don’t have a plan. Have that conversation; be honest but respectful to those skeptics wishes. It is their life, not yours. Once they’ve made the final decision, you can now make your plans. I always encourage dialogue and discussion, so please comment and give your two cents. Respectful and thoughtful discussions can only better us and make us more prepared.
Remember, stay frosty!
I feel I’m banging my head against a brick wall. I was raised poor, know the value of putting a few things away here and there, and have even been called “NUTS” by the kids. We live in a rural area and have frequent wind storms that take out the electricity for days. 8 days once. I wasn’t so nuts then. Generator paid for itself with the first use. Propane tank full, flashlights ready, Wood stacked, so bring it on. Naysayers can stay home and freeze or whatever they had planned, and me? I’m warm,cozy, full tummy and book ready to read! Do what YOU feel is best for you. You will thank yourself one day!
Ive been telling my friends for years about stocking some things for emergencies, I go to their houses and they dont have enough food for the week never mind for months at a time, if and when something happens, im going to pick up my Daughter and bring her to my house and sit there with the gun on my lap and just watch them from inside the windows saying I told you so….the bad thing about it is that my Daughters mother, the nut, has my Daughter brain washed that nothing will happen and that God will help everyone out, there is going to be a lot of people let down out there if something does happen, God gives us the right to make choices and I choose to prep….
My response to all the friends that come to my door is, I told you for the last 8 or 10 years to do what im doing and you made fun of me, when you take your last breath, i hope its me your thinking about when you do and saying to yourself, I should have listened…..Rick
I have had a few of those conversations myself. I never stop trying to help people help themselves, but sometimes feel its a loosing battle. I get the same answers as everyone else, the standard “if something happens I’ll come to your house”. You should see the looks I get when I tell them “if you come empty handed, you’ll leave empty handed, and if I’m pushed, you’ll leave in a hurry.” I really don’t know how I would deal with the situation, but I keep trying to make them think.
My family is hundreds of miles away from me, and I worry about them…but I have in-law family that is like minded and we discuss regularly what our plans are…Comfort comes from the fact that my parents were raised by depression era parent who ingrained frugality in me, and they are surrounded by family…but we’ve not had the talk…YET….
I was talking with a friend and fellow prepper today. The conversation came around to this very topic. We talked about how prepping is like a chair with four legs. Planning is one of those legs. If you don’t have a set and definitive plan in place you will then be victim of the chaos of circumstances when something happens. When the SHTF and you’re then debating whether you should go help your family/friends, you don’t have a plan. You put everyone who is with you in jeopardy, period.
I cannot stress enough the importance of response time,, too. You will only have one time and one time only to react and execute your plan. If you deviate from it, you will increase the odds that all of the years gathering gear and skills will be gone because you lacked a clear plan. Have this final conversation, once they make up their mind, finalize your plan depending on different types of scenarios. You should also have drills with your family (all that are willing to prep with you, of course). Having a plan, conducting drills and using your gear will make you feel more confident when something happens and make your response time fast because you’ll go into action mode and won’t have to think too much about what to do, it’ll be second nature.
I’m going to go with don’t bother. I discovered long ago that the first step to resolving any problem is first realizing that there is a problem. As long as people are in denial there is little you can do to influence them. As soon as reality appears on their doorstep they have a miraculous conversion…and still be unprepared.
Fortunately I have the resources to care for my extended family for at least two years. However, there will be a division of labor that will include consideration of the resources each brought with them. Someone will be cutting and splitting firewood, someone will be caring for the garden, someone will be preparing the chicken for Sundays dinner. If the reality of that evades you let me assure you the chicken will be making every attempt to avoid the situation as they approach him.
I like the idea of dividing out the labor! I told my friend I’m happy to stock-up on all the food/supplies as long as she does all the cooking ;)
I have tried with family, but they have all got busy modern lives and don’t want to know, so I don’t bother anymore.
That’s what worries me so much is most people seem to have the busy modern lives, and don’t have a clue about doing anything for themselves anymore.
The problem with this generation and country today is that its a push the button or turn the knob so the heat goes on world, ive been cutting and splitting my own wood for 48 years now and will do it till the day I cant any more, I dont know if anyone remembers about 15 years ago there was an ice storm in upstate NY and canada and it took down miles of power lines and quite a few people died because they had no food or heat, water or even help because the help couldnt get to them…
If you live in a state that gets cold and you dont have a backup heat source and food on hand then in all reality, if you die you have no one to blame but yourself, and I wouldnt want one of my kids going out after someone if they were a first responder, because they didnt think ahead….its amazing how many people bought generators right after hurricane Sandy, but that isnt the only thing you have to plan for…put down the paper and search for a prepping list of must haves…
Bigpaul don’t give up. I had the same problem with my son. He was so in denial that while he never called me crazy you could tell he thought it. Funny thing he is a hairstylist and talks to a lot of people every day about the current state of affairs. He started asking questions and I am getting a list of supplies together for him, his wife and 3 little girls. They will store it here as this will be their bug out destination. So [lease don’t give up.
Hello, seem’s like my extended family is “A” typical, I do talk to all and my immediate family is the only one that is preparing, so I get the same answer’s yall get, “I’ll just come to your house”, “The “G” will take care of it all”, “God will supply all my need’s”, and the best one from my son the MBA brainiac, an economic crash cannot happen in America….so far all reason is mentally blocked, just saying “IF” illicit’s ire, so I plug along hoping to have more in store for those little pig’s with straw hut’s….”C”
Lol, love the analogy! There will be lots of little piggy’s in straw huts if anything happens ;) There are already a ton right now!
Had and having the conversation. It is on going. The exuses are: don’t have the extra money, that’s not going to happen, my hubby thinks you’re crazy-you’re not going to listen to her are you?, don’t you think you’re carring this thing too far, where are you going to put all this stuff, what if it never happens, stc….. I make mention of the things people faced in tornados, hurricanes, chemical water spills and ask them what they would do, how would they feed and take care of my little grandchildren. Just blank stares. I even gave them the book “One Second After” (sorry, I didn’t know about yours), only my cousin has read it and she is now on board with preparing. I have done all I can do. I hardly ever talk about preparing anymore, I just keep on keeping on and sometimes mention a new item they might consider getting. I have been studing the life of Joseph in the Bible. Guess what–he was the FIRST prepper. So I prep on and when they show up at my door—-well, I will let them in cause I have prepared for that too.
“One Second After” really opened my eyes too!
I never thought about Joseph in the Bible as being a prepper, but so true. That is still one of the most amazing and inspirational stories ever. We can definitely learn a lot from Joseph!
We used to live in the southwest where the biggest threat was tornados. Why prep if everything will be blown away in 8 minutes? Moving to the northeast where ice storms can leave you in the dark for two weeks made me start buying. My husband and kids thought I was mad, grunting every now and then, until Hurricane Irene, Ike, and Sandy, earthquakes, and 5 blizzards (3 in one month). After Sandy, my husband looks over my shoulder at my lists, and is working on how to keep the refrigerator going on batteries.
I have to say that some people will have to learn the hard way, and they will look you up when that happens.
I have been struggling of late with how to ‘ repel boarders’ who haven’t bothered to prep anything for more than couple of days in a SHTF scenario. I live in a very tight nit community that is semi rural and most of them know that I prep. It’s hard to conceal my stash of food, medical supplies and sundries to survive a hiccup in the economy or whatever.
I recently had a friend tell me ” if the SHTF then I’m coming to your house.” I told him that that would be the worst idea he’s ever had in his young life. He looked shocked and I explained. 1) you haven’t prepared in any fashion for anything. 2) you have no practical skills that would enhance my chance of survival in a dire situation. Hard nosed additude? Yep, you betcha.
OTOH, I have 2 other friends who don’t prep either but have included in my prepping plans to support them and their two small families. One is a wicked good mechanic and tinkerer. The other is also a mechanic and a competent gunsmith who will pitch in on any important projects.
I’m a carpenter and millwright by trade so I have some skills to barter with and provide.
I’ve been kind of torn on one thing though. I’d like to be able to provide a 5 gallon bucket of food to some neighbors that are elderly or poor. But, I don’t want to have them come over time and again looking for hand outs. The downside is that they could inform some of their scum bag relatives that there is a wealth of food and supplies in my home and thereby endangering our little tribe of survivors. I’m still undecided. I’ve thought about putting together a ‘ grab bag’ of food and essential stuff and if I get approached by someone begging for assistance then tossing the bag to them and telling them to never come back and assuring them that the next time they show up I won’t tolerate them on my property and I’ll set the dogs on them ( or worse ). My instinct tells me to close ranks with my peeps and hunker down with no assistance to anyone. My Christian charity of me says to help others less fortunate than myself. I’d like to hear any thoughts from the prepper community!
Excellent article BTW.
SnakePlisken
I appreciate your comments! Sounds like you have really thought this out! I like the ‘grab bag’ idea. I have a little extra stored for others, but it’s not enough to last forever!
I thought of having a few “charity” bundles as well for others in the neighborhood with small kids. I was thinking that if I wanted to share, I may leave a parcel for them at night on the doorstep. anonymous.
Remember people laughed at Noah….and to be honest I probably would have too, until the first water came in my house. Bet he had to make some hard choices too.
I have decided to share my prepping with very few people. One is a fellow prepper, I actually met on the internet and the other is one set of family. Everyone else, family and friends wouldn’t last a week if society had a major breakdown. Some have never missed a meal and live a life style of fun and buying things and keeping their head in the sand. They continue to think the government will be at your side right away if something happened. Did they not see the Katrina horror. Others in my life are elderly and several thinks God will take care of them. I just want to ask them what God gave them a brain for if not to take care of yourself and your family.
I can care for my own or take in freeloaders and we will all fail.
Noah’s another great example! I would probably have laughed too. It’s hard to realize anything can happen until it’s actually happening to you. I was surprised even after a hurricane wiped through our city, as soon as things were cleaned up and back to normal, it’s like everyone completely forgot what had just happened. No one bothered to get a few more supplies, or store some extra food. It was back to going to the mall and getting their hair done – not that anything is wrong with that ;)
Great response to the excuse – “God will just take of us”! I believe he will, but we have to attempt to do our part, and using our brain is a great start!
The rain falls on the evil and the good. Yahovah gives us “insider trading” info. in order to be prepared just like Joseph and Noah…..One of the benefits of believing. Believe or not. Be ready or not.
I like your way of thinking!
I have been prepping for years, and my late ex-in-laws were preppers (although they didn’t think of themselves that way). My mom-in-law taught me how to can, and we lived a frugal lifestyle. However, since those days, I am on my own in the prepping department. Hubby #2 has the idea that as he is a Type 1 Diabetic, to plan on him surviving anything major is not practical. Still, we do have a well-stocked pantry, and he is already planning the garden and how to keep the deer out. Two bouts of unemployment in the last 2 years have made him very aware of how valuable the preps have been. He is more on-board although he still needs to work on a more positive outlook in life.
That can be hard being a Type 1 Diabetic, I can see where you might wonder what the point in being prepared is, but most disasters I think we will be facing are just the everyday ones – natural disaster, economic, unemployment, etc. The things you are already doing are great, and will help get you through any of those.
I have 3 type 1 diabetics…hubby, teen daughter and father-in-law (altho he is a bit resistant to prepping). This is a major concern…anyone that has ANY advice, I would be eternally grateful!!
Hi Anne – Jamie is correct about what type of events we are most likely to experience and that preparing will enable you to weather the storm.
Something you mentioned is ‘state of mind’. It is critical when it comes to surviving. That survival event can be small or large, but keeping a positive and stable state of mind can be the difference to making it.
I wish you and your husband the best.
Ahhh, what a consensus, now the crux seem’s to be in not convincing or rationalizing but “in” what will one do when others show up begging, pleading and screaming for help, that gammit can run from pure maddness to hopeless compassion… yall know how people are, they are not going to just walk away when you say NO, talk about the UGLY coming out… what say ye? “C”
I appreciate your comments Charlie and your post made me smile.
Personally, I’m a believer that hunger and desperation will drive people to do crazy and unusual things. The issue that unsettles me is that I’m a compassionate person but also a person of action. When something needs fixed, I fix it. When someone ( a person worthy of my help that is ) needs help I pitch in. OTOH, I am a violent man when provoked. Thank G-d that isn’t often!!! In our small community I’m known as the go to person because I use common sense and a pragmatic approach in all my dealings with my fellow humans. People feel safe around me because I don’t panic or freak out when unusual things occur.
The problem is this; I’ve never been in a complete melt down situation. I’ve never been in the military or a LEO so I’m kind of winging it if the crap goes down. I don’t fear my neighbors, I fear those who are the hungry desperate walking dead. I’m hoping that by hiding in plain sight my tribe and I will avoid most trouble until things stabilize and we can rebuild a much stronger, better USA ( or Inland Empire as I refer to fly over country. We live in a trailer court out in the semi suburbs with lots of fields around us so we have open field of fire and I imagine the hordes would be targeting the wealthy homes 5 miles from us. But, once the wealthy homes are raided and those folks perish the walkers will come for us.
My main concern that this potentially volatile situation here in USA has never been seen by my generation or the millenials behind me and that concerns me. That’s why I prep. Like a good boy scout i want to be prepared because I just don’t know what the future will bring. Prepping is also provides a comfort for me because I feel that my hard work in my garden, re using items and recycling make me more independent.
My Dad and several business associates think I’m crazy for my prepping. Yet when they have fallen on hard times or layoffs they come to me for loans and food. I don’t provide them any assistance. And of course I’m the butt hole!!!! However, I rotate my food stores as appropriate and donate it to poor and elderly in my neighborhood. It is what I was taught as a child because my grandparents grew up ;poor and instilled a strong sense of community in me. Oddly enough, my boss is a pretty wealthy guy and he preps! He’s not one of those NatGeo crazies but grows a huge garden every year and cans most of the veggies and fruit.
The whole point of this long post is this: I will help those who have helped themselves in some fashion for the SHTF scenario or have critical skills to help me survive. If a group shows up to take my life, my tribe’s lives or take our resources we will fight. Now THAT’s human nature!!
While I agree with pretty much everything that has been said, I think there is a missing element or two. First of all, there is more to prepping than supplies and most of you probably know that. Most of you also probably have some idea about foraging. The first thing that I think that has been left out is taking in people not to subsist off of your preps, but to teach them methods of gathering food for themselves. In this scenario, I myself plan on adding in a little bit of my preps to keep their moral up, their health up, and to hopefully limit the likelihood that they will become desperate enough or self-justify themselves into taking my preps.
Second, while those people who come knocking and already have valuable skills to offer are of course the best, there is safety in numbers and there will always be unskilled labor in a long term survival event. No one person or even say four adults can be awake and on guard twenty-four hours a day and still get all needed chores accomplished. Chores that will need to be done that are unskilled are hoeing, building latrines, (with a little training) weeding, caring for livestock, waste management, cooking, caring for small children, hunting drives, etc.
So while all of the above thoughts have validity, I think they should be tempered with the thoughts that I have added here. If and when a level three event happens, we will need a community to survive. Hope this proves of value to the readers of this article. :)
We’ve always purchased on sales and had at least one backup for when the current thing gets empty, so I guess we’ve always been hedging on prepping. Then I lost my job and we couldn’t buy groceries for almost 8 months. Our pantry was almost empty by the time we got groceries again, so I understand and appreciate planning ahead. I learned it from my mom.
However, once I discovered prepping on the internet and started using the word, and saying things like “We should consider” or “They recommend”, my mom started thinking I was being ridiculous and rolls her eyes a lot… She doesn’t think we need to step it up, but I’m fairly sure it’s just the word she balks at, since she was the one to make “emergency backpacks” in case we need to leave in a hurry… She doesn’t think there’s any point in getting “extreme” in planning because someone will just come take it…
What I’m saying is that how you word it, and how you pitch the idea has a huge bearing on how they react.
That being said, it’s fairly easy to beef up your food supply without them noticing. Learning canning, getting a dehydrator and a garden can be passed off as hobbies. So far she hasn’t noticed, and yes, we still live together, and as a 23 year old, she still keeps an eye on me. Lol!
Right now I’m working on getting some water storage in the basement. That she has noticed. But, here water is sold out from stores at least twice a year because of flooding, and again for wildfires. So once I get it, the first time we need to use it I think she’ll be sold…
You bring up a great point. The wording used can make a huge difference when convincing family to prep or not. No one want so seem crazy or extreme, so staying away from some terms can be beneficial.
People seem to respond better when I mention needing to prepare a few extra things or learn some new skills that might come in handy, then it doesn’t seem so bad. And yes, most of these can come off as hobbies too! Really, most of becoming prepared is just living like our grandparents did.
Good luck with getting your water storage, sounds like you’re doing a ton! Keep it up!
Great article and I know exactly where you are coming from. After Hurricane Sandy destroyed our area, we went without power for 2 weeks. No generator, just enough food in the pantry for 4 days for a family of 4 and 2 cats. No heat and it got chilly at night. After that my husband and I decided we needed to start learning how to prep for such an emergency again in the future. At least a good 6-8 weeks worth of food and water, we have a generator, extra blankets, batteries, even learned how to generate heat using nothing more than tea lights and a couple of clay pots from a Youtube video. Now that we feel ready to handle another Hurricane situation, we are extending our efforts to prepare for a worse case scenario. But we also have the same problem as was mentioned in the article.
My husband would talk to his sister about prepping on the short term. His sister then got her husband interested and was going to start prepping himself. Well a few weeks ago they are over at the house with their 2 kids and he asks how our prepping is going, says he is doing great. We show him what we have done and how we are stocked up. He sees the food and water and says, “Wow, I know where we are coming to when its time to eat!”.
My husband says whoa, you said your prepping was going great. His brother-in-laws then tells us he is armed to the teeth, ready to repel any invader! So his definition of prepping is to prepare for hordes of zombies overrunning the world. He has stocked up on guns, ammo, bows, arrows, knives, axes, machetes, baseball bats. If it is legal to own, he’s got it. So we ask him why he hasn’t stocked up on food and water and he’s more concerned about looters coming to his house to steal his stuff. He sits there running his mouth about SHTF dude you’ll be dead in a week without water.
So he offers to provide protection for the house in exchange for our food supplies. My husband got angry and told him no. Same thing as mentioned above. I want my kids to have a chance of making it through a SHTF scenario and having 4 more bodies show up cuts that chance in 1/2. So then he starts the what-ifs with my husband. What if your 80 year old parents show up, gonna turn them away? Your going to just let me children die of hunger because you’re greedy? Hubby got angry and said he wasn’t going to play the “what if” game and the feeding of his kids is his responsibility, not ours. The argument ruined the day, hard feelings all around. Really the nerve.
Plus it doesn’t just boil down to that. The brother-in-law has 2 brothers with wives and kids of their own. If SHTF, not only would he show up, I guarantee he would invite 9 other mouths with them too and we know his brothers are not preppers either. They live for new cars, 70 inch 4k TV’s , expensive electronics and phones. None of them have any skill set that would add to survival in SHTF scenario.
Since then my husband has told his sister we have stopped all prepping for emergencies and just going to keep enough for a week on hand for us at home. Said something to the effect he was not going to be the food pantry built on our dime while others mooched off of us and put all of our lives at risk. Ant and Grasshopper story if you will. But we will keep prepping on the sly and hiding all of our goods so the next time their family comes over, we can show them we have nothing to offer. Sad it has to come to this. I know somebody will say that trading food for security is a good thing, but we don’t live near any large towns or cities and again, trading off more than 1/2 our food to protect us from something that might not happen (maurading gangs) is not worth it.
Thanks for sharing! I love the Ant and Grasshopper story. Preparing is just one of those things we all have to decide for ourselves to do.