Friday, June 19, 2009

Opening doors to discuss preparedness

We had a preliminary conversation with my in-laws and youngest niece last night about preparedness. That can be a tricky door to open. We all want our loved ones to be prepared, but we don't want them to think that we're doing the job for them.
Our discussion started with a question about cabbage. Seems my mother has planted way too much this year and my MIL loves it. She happened to mention that it wouldn't store long and I saw an open door. I said - oh cabbage is a great vegetable to store - you don't even need to refrigerate it. I pulled out my copy of "Root Cellaring" by Mike and Nancy Bubel and read some of the info on cabbage for her. She said it was too bad we didn't have a root cellar, at which point my FIL and I both said that our basement had areas that were perfect for root cellars (dark, cool, damp). She then asked me about the difference between Organic produce and regular - which opened another door for discussion about Hybrid vs non-hybrid seeds.
The whole time we were having this discussion I was in shock. In the 16 years that I've known her I don't think I've ever seen her pick up a trowel to plant a flower, much less veggies. I don't expect that she's going to go out and start digging now but the 'seed' is there for further discussion.
Somehow we flowed rather naturally from the root cellar discussion to one about EMP. What it is, what it does, and how much of a threat it actually is (one of the most likely). We didn't get much further than that but again - the door is open.
What we didn't do -
We didn't jump up and down saying "You've got to get started. There isn't much time left"
We didn't dump a pile of articles and books in their laps and say "You need to read this"
We didn't invite them to tour our preps, nor did we mention what we may or may not have for preps (though they're familiar with the garden).
We didn't volunteer to have them come here if TSHTF
We are all responsible for our own well being and preparedness. Our responsibility to others is to inform them and equip them with the information to prepare themselves; not to bludgeon them or terrify them to the point that they stick their heads back in the sand.
This was a VERY preliminary discussion but one that I hope we can expand on in the days and weeks to come. You should each keep your eyes and ears open for similar opportunities. Even if you think your family is oblivious or hostile towards prepping. You might be surprised by the chances you find to start talking with them.

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