So the Pacific Northwest is having snow like I remember when I was a kid. This used to be normal. Now, it’s a “snomageddon’ and the authorities have declared a state of emergency. Seriously? It’s just a little bit of snow.
And granted, some areas of the state are hit a lot harder than me. But still, look at what’s happening in grocery stores:
As one person in Seattle put it, it’s “combat shopping“.
Even in my much smaller city, the grocery stores were cleaned out of some items. Thursday night, ALL the shopping carts were in use, and there was a line out the door. And this is just a tiny event as far as natural disasters go. People weren’t even prepared enough to go for a long weekend without shopping. Look how quickly everything went.
Now imagine it was a serious storm. Or an earthquake. Something that would keep the grocery stores from being able to restock the next day.
Now no fault to you if you’re in serious financial difficulties, or something else that keeps you from being prepared, but if you’re an average human with a decent job, and you’re NOT prepared for at least a two weeks without having to hit the grocery stores in panicked combat-mode, than you are an idiot. I’m sorry for being blunt, but you are. Natural disasters are picking up in frequency and severity all over the globe, and the odds are that someday you will be affected by something. It could even be something personal to you: a job layoff or an injury. Whatever it is, when it is so simple to just start buying a few extra canned goods every time you shop, make sure you always have toilet paper and other necessities on hand, and stick a few bottles of water underneath your bed – why wouldn’t you? Seriously, why not?
I wrote a post a short time ago with suggestions on how to get started, but really, looking at these grocery store pictures, if you at least have enough food to get you through a weekend without having to go to the store, you’ll be ahead of so many people. Thursday night, one of my co-workers was worried about having to drive on the snow to go shopping after work because she ‘didn’t have anything to eat’ in her house. Seriously? Being prepared is not some sort of fringe wacko conspiracy nut thing…it’s just common sense. It used to be the ordinary, common thing for everyone. People just always had food in their houses. Often, they had fresh food sources in their city backyards. It’s sad, and it’s insane how things have changed.
The only thing I bought since this snow started was a gallon of milk. Not because it was a necessity, but only because I wanted to make a new batch of yogurt. I could easily have gone without, and been perfectly fine. There is food in my pantry, and the freezers are stocked.
The only reason I want this snow to go away is because the chickens and I hate cold weather. I want to start work on the new Muscovy duck coop, and finish prepping my garden for planting!
Oh – and I have ordered my first pair of Utility King pigeons! They should arrive in the mail within a week or two.
Out of Eden 
I love all your pics! Not sure what it is with people freaking out over snow. I wonder if the media just hypes everything up and people believe it? I remember the snows we used to get when we were kids and it’s not that often it happens now. Perfect reading weather, right? 😁😉
Thanks! Yes, perfect book-and-hot-cocoa weather!
I just needed my dang coffee! Now I know something else that needs stockpiled. But you know I totally agree with this post. We went to the store at 2a to avoid the chaos. It seriously was ridiculous!
In Quebec, when they forecast 10 inches of snow and we get only what you got in the pictures, we cheer! I guess it’s only a matter of being familiar with the situation. I remember the snow falls in my childhood, nothing to be compared with the ones we have these days! We barely got rain during winter and since 10-15 years there’s at least 5-6 days of rain, which turns to ice.
Luckily, and I say luckily because I love cold temperatures and snow, the Sun is getting into a new Solar Minimum, which will expose the false relationship of heat with “man made” CO2, and we’ll have again winters like the ones of my childhood.
It is scary how unprepared people are. Preparedness, at least to ‘some’ degree, used to be a normal part of life. Now, as you mentioned, so many can not afford to be prepared, and SO many live unstable lifestyles, in which it is not easy to be ready for something as simple as snow. I live just a short distance from San Jose, where there are more than a million people who will be in a terrible bind after something as normal as an earthquake, or just an inch of snow. Really! I do not mind that we are not prepared for snow, because snow is just that rare here. However, people really should be prepared to be stranded for a while for ‘whatever’ reason. Well, I should not rant in that direction. It is not pretty.
So many people rely on fast food, or picking up take out. Here in FL, one has to be prepared for hurricane season, so we are better than most.