I don’t often watch TV, not even prepper shows. Just like any entertainment venue, the various channels tend to focus on the extreme, and I’m here to tell you – I am NOT digging a 3 foot deep and six foot long hole to hide in in case the Feds come looking for me!

After the granddaughters and kids left today, I was beat. I sorta/kinda laid down on the loveseat/ottoman – I’m not tall, but taller than a loveseat is long – and I dozed off while my husband was watching some History Channel thing about a prepper family.

Now, I get being prepared, but this? Well, the narrator said that once a month, Dad blows a whistle or something and all the kids duck and cover. Older kids, by the way, youngest was maybe 10 or 12, one about 14 and the other maybe 16. This is their earthquake drill, and they live in central Illinois so – at some point – a quake there is certainly possible, thank you New Madrid fault.

After a couple minutes, tops, Mom asks each one of the kids: Joe, are you okay? Or whatever their names were. Then Dad says: okay, we’ll wait 10 seconds for any aftershocks. Ten seconds? I’m no earthquake expert, and this is just a drill, but ten seconds? Hmmm.

They have their BOBs and their BOV. Dad tells us they have three days’ supplies in each bag, plus a med bag and a communications bag. Except they don’t have a communication bag. He has this elaborate set-up in the house, and the walkies are charging, but I’m wondering – re the BOBs in a special place by the door, if they have to get out that quickly, how the heck will they have time to pack up the rest?

I know these shows don’t go into every detail, but why, then, do they air them? If it’s for teaching, as one would think re the History Channel, then they SHOULD go into more detail – even contents of the BOBs, at least. If it’s entertainment, well, it’s pretty damn boring. Narrator put me to sleep – literally!

Oh, and Dad said that that earthquake is going to come in the “next forty years.” Got news for Dad, at his age, he’ll probably be SOL. Mom, too. The kids, well, they’ll probably have kids of their own and will likely remember a lot of this, but… Point is that it’s really only going to be beneficial if they prepare for ANYTHING, and something more specific and likely than an earthquake in the next four decades.

The thing about SHTF is that no one can agree what it is, exactly, or when, or how, or where. Some people thing along the lines of a rapture-type event, comets or asteroids or whatever. And the next couple shows were about those things, scary and fear mongering. More interesting narration, though! The thing is that you have to catch the tiny moment when the expert says: this has less than a 1% chance of happening in the next 100 years.

Huh.

Back to SHTF: if you think you can bug-out from an earthquake, good luck. If you think you can maintain your level of prep for 40 years, again, good luck. If you’re worried about a comet in the next 100 years, got news for you – you’ll probably be dead before that happens. And if you think the cause is going to be zombies, pal, get some help. They aren’t real. Move on.

But if you’re worried about the state of government, riots, crime, food shortages, skyrocketing prices – or creeping increases, which I think is more the norm – then do some homework. Learn. Prepare. Make a plan, and make lists. Won’t do you much good if you have 50 cans of sardines and nothing else. (As an aside, who the heck would eat those things??)

Think about where you’d go, if you have to leave, and how you’d get there – both from a vehicle standpoint and fuel. Think about cooking and sanitation and washing your clothes. Think about defense.

I’ve said before, I’m not a fanatic, I’m not crazy – well, in this area, at least – but if I’ve got my ducks in a row, as much as one can, then I can carry on with my life as it is today without worrying about the state of the country. Or the world. And if something happens, I’m ready for it.