Talking to a friend...or trying to

[BAK]

I guess many of you also were in similar situations. This weekend I approached a friend of mine (call her K) regarding the whole idea of preparedness. We have been friends since high school and now are almost 30 year old. I

[CLT46910]

Wish them the best of luck, they will need it.

If you are seriously that close to her, I would offer her and her husband a chance but the rest of the family is on their own. If she insist you take in the rest of her family, withdrawn your offer. She will never forgive you for not taking them and will become a problem you do not need later.

[ThePreparedMom]

Sometimes all you can do is share your understanding of things and hope that it sticks in someone's mind. It's scary to think about a world that is so different from the way we know it today, so it's not surprising that so many people shut down and say "Oh leave me alone. I'll worry about it when it happens," because they are truly hoping that it will never happen and they will never have to think about it. However, hopefully now that you've planted a seed, your friend will begin to think about it. Sometime's that's all it takes. You know how when your focused on something you start to see it everywhere? Well, maybe now that you have started the thought process with your friend, she will start to see the signs and the trouble that could happen, and she might get on board- or at least get the bare minimum for her family.

I know it's hard, but all we can do is share our information with those that we love and hope that they are awake enough to do something with it. I know that it is hard, but I wouldn't be able to take food out of my kids' mouths to give to people who knew the possibilities, but thought the tin foil hat I was wearing was just getting too tight. So, we share our information, offer our help and advice if they want it, and pray that they wake up and start preparing before it is too late.

[MustangGal]

Give her a copy of One Second After.

DH and I had a similar conversation and my answers were pretty similar - even though we live in a rual area, have guns, know how to hunt and fish, and have some survival skills. Then I read the book. My answers changed and FAST.

[EX121]

One of the arguments I use is how various disaster organizations recommend that everyone have as a minimum 3 days worth of supplies. Once thay see this it helps open their eyes. Since they live in NYC ask what they were doing during the big blackout & could they even get to their home in the city? sometimes you don't know if the seed has been planted. Good luck.

[Echelleg]

I am dealing with a similiar situation with my sister and my best friend. My sister sees the importance of stockpiling and can see the things that are happening in our country. She doesn't think it will be as bad as I think it will be, therefore see thinks a few months of food is good enough and she has no water supply. I think her attitude would be different if her husband was not a sheeple. He thinks I am a complete joke. So in order to keep the peace in her home she takes the approach that a few months stockpile of food is for convience sake. This way her husband doesn't make her life difficult.
My Best Friend is a Mormon and believes in food storage and being prepared for many different types of senerios. She can see that our country is in a really bad place. However, she has very little food storage, no water storage, some meds, no alt cooking method, she does a little gardening. When I try to talk to her, even using Mormon reasoning, she is open and we have a good discussion, but it comes down to she is to wrapped up in her life and work to make it a priority.

I love both of them deeply and I am not sure I could turn them away. I have many sleepless nights and anxious days fretting over what I need to do. I have decided to get food and water preps for my family, when I feel comfortable that I can meet my families needs then I will start expanding to include my sister, BF and their families. They have skills that would be useful when SHTF, so I can see it being worth it. But NOT until my husband and kids are taken care of.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

You tried, now mentally prepare yourself that a zombie knows that you have thought about it and probably prepared so they will now show up at your doorstep
Sucks but thats reality

[tech]

Yup...gonna be a bunch of folks thinking that "Joe and Jill have a bunch of stuff. We'll go to their place...." ...and some preppers are actually going to take them in. They will put their family's survival at risk to save someone too stupid to live.

The smart prepper will turn them away so fast they won't know what hit them.

I have given up on sheeple, be it family or other.

[Pop_45]

I just lent my copy of Patriots to a friend of Momma_32's. She's been a good friend of the family for a long time. I'm hoping she will get the idea she needs to be prepped as well. When I get a copy of One Second After, I will let her borrow it also.

Just subtle little hints, nothing overt cause I don't want her to show up at my door when things get bad, but I'm willing to help get prepped now.

[Deep Operator]

I use a few tactics that the "elite" use, when dealing with such a serious issue as preparing and organizing for "It". Tell only the select ones, that is those who are open, that you trust, known for sometime, and can offer useful assitance, etc. The sheeple, the lemmings, the Oprah will know what to do crowd, I would just play stupid and dumb as a brick to this class of person. Why waste your effort!? Certainly the indoctrinated are of little or no use to our type of people.

[Echelleg]

Fortunately, my sister lives about 5 hours away and my parents are between us. I was also smart enough to keep the extent of my prepping to myself. No ones knows how much I do or don't have. Everyone thinks my chickens, rabbits and gardening are hobbies for a bored housewife. I love my family and I would have a hard time turning my sis and nephews away. However, I would never take from my childrens welfare for any reason. I know that sounds harsh, but my responsibility is to my children no one elses. I don't know what is going to happen in our world, but no matter what happens, at the end of the day I know I am doing the best I can to ensure my childrens safety and survival. That's all I can do.

[BAK]

As many of you know, there was a 5.9 magnitude earthquake in Virginia today. Since I live in Washington DC at the moment, only 90 miles away from the epicenter, the quake produced some chaos here. My friend called me today and sarcastically asked if I ran to my bunker. I guess the seed is not taking hold.

On a good note, when I sprinted home from the gym 2 blocks away as soon as it happened, what do I see? My dear girlfriend, wearing a bathrobe on the sidewalk, barefoot, with a pair of shoes in one hand and her BOB in other. That was a uplifting sight :-)

[miked2345]

Ok, first.... To the original poster - Any woman who says

[ThePreparedMom]

I read this today and chuckled because this "official" press release says all that I've been trying to tell my parents about prepping. I'm forwarding it to my mother and hoping that it will help to bolster some of the ideas that I've been starting to discuss with her.

http://www.nbcconnecticut.com/weather/stories/Preparing-for-Irene--128305073.html

[Lowdown3]

Can't help but think your friend is one of the two gals that used to call me after 9/11....

A couple weeks after 9/11, when even the "late to the party" types had stocked up on gas masks, chem suits, etc. I started getting these calls at midnight, sometimes later from a gal from New York City.

She was your typical "I'm new and need reassurance" sheeple customer. Sorry I don't tell people the world IS going to end, or that you "have" to have such and such product to survive. That's unethical in my book. I've seen a lot of companies use that tactic in the last 20 years and quite a few are still remembered for their little "ploys" to make some quick sales. I don't play those games.

So Suzy Q. (don't remember her name and it doesn't matter) wanted me to tell her that getting some preparedness supplies was the " right thing" to do and then sell her some. I told her it was HER decision, didn't have anything to do with me.

She asks "Did you buy things like this for your family?" Yes I've always had a gas mask, protective suits, survey meters, etc. "What do you mean always had, didn't this just happen?" I explained that I had been preparing since 1986. Total silence, brain scrambled.

I talked to her a little bit between other calls (even at O dark thirty then the phone rang constantly). She was simply looking for something I couldn't give her, a decision I couldn't/wouldn't make FOR HER. She held on despite being put on hold sometimes for 6-7 minutes while I was taking other orders.

She called a night or two later, same late time to call. This time she had a friend there with her and smugly said "I'm ready to do this" at the start of the call. Back then I was talking to sometimes 200-300 people per day, so at first I didn't remember her.

With the friend nearby- I guess for comfort or strengthening- she makes an order. She sounds completely different from the night before, "empowered" might be the word. I'm happy for her that she finally made a decision. She sounds surprised that certain items available last night are completely unavailable tonight. She gives me this "I figured I was the only one to think about doing this" speil. I explained to her that was definitely not the case. After about an hour on the phone with her, jugling her between actual sales calls, she places an order. I make everything really really clear to her and ask her to write it down. She does. I tell her a few simple things she could and should do tomorrow, locally to prep and she writes them down also.

I have a small shred of hope for Suzy Q.

The following night she calls back. She's down, by herself and completely different than the "empowered" Suzy Q. with her buddy near by. She tells me that her "therapist" told her she shouldn't be preparing. That it's selfish to go and get antibiotics for potential bio problems, that she shouldn't put up some food, etc. She wants to cancel the order. I ablidge her and tell her that's fine, we are swamped with orders right now, I help pack orders from midnight when we turn the phone off till sometimes 4 in the morning, then get a couple hours sleep and plug the phones back in at 9am. (it was crazy days for about 2 weeks). Told her no problem, thanks, need to get off the phone, etc.

I guess it must have been a week later, she calls again. Guess what? She wants to put the order in now. Expects that we kept it right there (it was the only order we had right? LOL) ready for her to call up again. I consider telling her that their is no way in hell I would ever do business with her but figure someone like her would never in a million years understand why. Instead I tell her we don't have she's looking for. "Call back in a month and we might get some new stock, right now you can't find anything" I tell her. "A MONTH!" NOW she's in a hurry.

Some people you can't reach. Some people were sitting a few blocks from the largest terrorist attack in America's history and still don't prepare. Everyone with a TV saw the folly of staying in a big city during a disaster during Katrina, yet some tards still think cities are the place to be when TSHTF.

You can't argue with stupidity. Don't waste your time.

I have quite a few old friends and current friends that are retards in this way. Some know a "little" bit about what I do, some have no idea. We don't broadcast it in person.

Your not going to win this gal over, sorry. If you really care for her, put some food up and BRING IT to her house in PA, leave it there for her and tell her to leave it there that it will store o.k. etc. Tell her if you don't use this in 10 years give it to a charity or give it back to me, but don't throw it out. That's your best way of helping her.

God has given this country numerous warnings over the last decade- 9/11, Katrina, the economic situation. Even the darn gubmint is telling people to prepare a little bit.