Posted on 08/12/2009 3:09:51 AM PDT by Quix
[Quix color emphasis added; with standing permission to post ATS docs here with URL refs.]
A severe storm came through my town last night and it knocked out power in my local grocery store for a bit. This was no big deal, as it has happened before. There was, however, a bigger problem we discovered very quickly: The credit and debit no longer worked, and checks couldn't be used. Foodstamps and WIC did not work either.
Coincidentally, there was a rush of people in the store at this same time, and the lines began to clog very fast. People in line joked about how anyone ever did this 100 years ago, things like that. Everyone figured the glitch would be ironed out momentarily. Since nothing else worked, those people who were stuck were forced to use the store ATM that would charge them to withdraw money. They weren't happy but they got in line and started to get the cash they needed.
Until the ATM froze up.
Now the fake smiles and annoyed chatter had disappeared and reality struck for a lot of people, they had no way to access their money, they had no way to pay for their food. Those who unloaded their carts were completely stuck and the ones waiting in line didn't want to give up their spot to go to the bank. People became vocal very quickly.
"There's no way the whole system can go at once!"
"What the Hell do I do now?"
"I'm not leaving without this food."
People started pointing fingers at the cashiers, THEY must have done something. When the manager tried to explain it was not the cashier's doing, the company was to blame for making such a flawed system. Soon enough, with no knowledge of how the system actually worked, people began blaming others for buying too many groceries in the first place. In the span of a few minutes, perfectly calm, content people turned on those around them and eventually each other because food and money weren't immediately available to them.
About that time the manager announced that the debit and checking was back up, and the ATM unfroze and people got their money.
All of the things mentioned could have been causes for the glitch, but how the customers reacted was stunning to me. I can't say what would have happened if the problem hadn't resolved itself, but I know that in a situation where other variables were involved such as a national crisis or mass panic, there would have been chaos.
If people react in such a way when a small wrench is thrown into the works, what reactions would come from a multitude of things going wrong all at once? After what I saw last night, I wouldn't want to be near a public place should the house of cards topple over, and I don't recommend anyone planning a trip to the store that day.
signature
Question Everything.
WAKE-UP FOLKS.
The PTB are setting things up deliberately to get very ugly.
Yes, DELIBERATELY.
They have ENGINEERED AND ARE ENGINEERING
CHAOS . . . A FAVORITE TOOL of theirs . . . in order to
1. To force, coerce, shoehorn in, severely tyrannical governmental structures, operations, events, tactics, . . . "CHANGE" . . . globalism . . . NWO.
2. Reduce the population--a very high priority of theirs.
I'm curious how many FREEPERS have the sense, impression, FEELING that things have ALREADY been rachetted up to the point where it wouldn't take much of a lit cigarette in this fireworks factory to light the festivities off????
The "REALITY" we are so . . . wedded to . . . in our daily lives IS ALREADY a deep charade . . . built on extremely fragile infrastructure components. imho, it won't take much to bring the house of cards crashing thoroughly down.
And 10's of millions are still QUITE UTTERLY CLUELESS of those facts. WHEN it happens, THEIR shock and outrage will be geometrically greater than the shock and outrage of those who have somewhat of a clue but still live largely in denial.
ACTIVISM in terms of these issues, to me, includes as a minimum--AT LEAST MINIMAL PREPARATION.
CERTAINLY it requires prayer, wisdom, thoughtfulness.
Certainly it requires knowing who you can and who you can't trust nearby.
CERTAINLY it requires walking close to God and learning to hear His Voice in the midst of turmoil while walking in His Peace that passes understanding.
Let us pray for JimRob and the convention, particularly. I'm thrilled that FREEPERS are getting together. And, it's probably good to do it in the symbolic center of power.
Nevertheless, given all the givens and such looming chaos . . . JimRob and the group will be a target rich environment from a lot of perspectives. imho, PRAYER ALONE can be adequate cover for all the contingencies and possibilities.
God have mercy on us.
God have mercy on FR and all FREEPERS. God have mercy on our Beloved Republic.
END TIMES/ DREAMS/ VISIONS/ PROPHECY PING LIST “A” LIST PING.
Pray and calm down.
PING.
& THX BIG for all your help.
A nationwide emergency would not be pretty, that’s obvious. Some communities would riot, others would come together.
LOL.
This IS calm.
Heart rate’s calm.
No sweating.
Somewhat awake.
Clearing sinuses etc. toward next sleep jump.
Enjoying Laz-Y-Boy and FR.
Enjoying being me.
If I was any calmer, I’d be back asleep. I’ll hold that level of calm off a bit longer until I get back in bed.
Nevertheless, there are still FREEPERS and lurkers out there who have yet to WAKE-UP much at all. It is conceivab le that they will learn something from this thread.
I think you’re right.
Of course, there will be concerted efforts on the part of the PTB toward insuring that certain areas erupt in maximum violence.
Ok...Ok Lol...
(I woke up early this morning too.) ;-)
No sweat.
Earlier this week I was infuriated enough at a computer glitch I could have used the “calm down” exhortation.
However, I rather rarely get very angry or upset emotionally.
Philosphically . . . more frequent. But I can write rather fiercely at an extremely calm physical, emotional, bio-chemical state.
BTW, the OP at ATS
has now earned at last 98 stars and 93 flags.
That thread is worth scanning at ATS in terms of the interesting responses there . . . amidst largely a bunch of liberals.
It didn’t want to seem to play nice with my Firefox.
It didn’t SEEM to WANT to play nice with my Firefox.
And just in case the above OP is tooooo sleep inducing . . . this thread at ATS might be of enlivening interest:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread428481/pg1
. . . Tesla . . . etc.
Curious.
Haven’t reinstalled Firefox since my C drive wipe and reinstall GRRR . . .
And, the latest version of Firefox was too problematic for my taste in terms of printing . . .
However, I used it at ATS all the time with equal ease to what it did at FR. Puzzling.
Sorry.
I don’t think it was “coincidental” that a crowd showed up — these were folks who realized that without grabbing a bunch of nonperishables that didn’t need cooking, they would be in kimchee if the power stayed out several days.
Another interesting thread there:
http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread489407/pg1
118 people control the media world wide.
INDEED.
This is some what common up here, that is why I am trying to get in the habit of having cash in hand before going to the grocery store.
Got any idea where this took place. Might say a lot.
A power failure over a wide area for a prolonged time would present some serious problems for the population. Sure, a number of people have generators, but once the fuel runs out, can more of it be pumped and refined manually?
I lived through a week long power outage in Ohio, middle of July.
NEVER, EVER, have I live so unprepared again. I was dependent on a well, electric supplied. I had an all-electric kitchen. Plenty of food in cupboards, no way to cook it. People that have never been through one of these have NO idea how bad things get, and how fast.
No cash from banks
No gas from gas stations (forget driving to a hotel, and your debit cards won’t work, anyway)
No grocery stores open (we had a small local convenience store that opened doors only for recognized customers, allowing them to “charge” their groceries)
The locally owed hardware store did stay open. The clerks walked you through with flashlights and you had to pay CASH.
No restaurants open, unless they had a generator. I found a Big Boy restaurant that had power, 30 minutes away. My son and I waited almost 2 hours to be seated. People were glaring at us to “hurry up and finish eating” so they could be seated.
This scenario, if widespread, won’t end well.
for later
In Texas, yes, because we have oil and we have refineries.
But the bigger picture is more bleak. We are all surrounded by non-planners who live week to week and do not have the smarts to put away a little extra food. These folks care only about who is going to be the next American Idol. They oftentimes have a sense of entitlement. They are willing to cut in line ahead of others. Their sense of decency and humanity is but a thin veneer, and that veneer slips in times of stress.
The reason I say all of this is because although I live in a decent area, my supermarket is patronized by a ghetto demographic. They are pushy, rude, and racist against pale people. They make a fuss if they don't get there way, even if they are being unreasonable. Their kids sometimes scream profanities at the pale folks, and the attitude of the mom is "That's right, cracka", and she does nothing to correct the behavior of her offspring.
And all of this is on a NORMAL day. What happens when times get tough and the welfare and WIC no longer arrives? Can I assume they'll suddenly jump up, get a job, and behave appropriately? Or will they sweep through the stores on a wilding/looting spree?
I have been alive long enough to know the answer to that. I am stockpiling.
Anyone with half a brain has at least 14 days of food stored in their home.
The ATM would not work if the power was off.
Purchase and learn how to use guns properly and you will never go hungry.
And I’ll NOT speculate on WHICH communities would riot and which would come together.
Also, this is exactly the scenario that people foresee when they have been “stocking up”.
I find it interesting that they always tell you to have three days worth of survival stuff.
It’s interesting because as I have said in the past, all that would have to happen is for there to be no milk on the store shelves for three days. Then, all hell would break loose.
So the “3 days” that the geniuses recommend is just enough to get you through till the real party starts!
ping
PTB?
What is a “PTB”?
It’s boring but doable to eat cold canned foods that were supposed to be served hot.
Houston had no power last fall after Hurricane Ike for 2 weeks and some areas for even longer. We managed, it wasn’t fun, but we made it.
Can you say Katrina!
I often think of what will happen if the connection of the swipe of a piece of plastic to the instantaneous gratification of daily purchases will be broken over a large geographic area.
I also wonder why the government cannot have a system for verifying voters that is as efficient as any credit card company's instant verification of a plastic card.
Thanx for the reminder...
Later today I’m gonna fire up both my generators and check the oil, let em run and get good and hot for a bit!
I ain’t playin’ around, myself.
I’m moving to Texas this fall, paying cash for a place and getting ready. Because I firmly believe in the SHTF scenario.
I made my plane reservations for my “walk around” in a couple weeks and I have a real estate agent lined up.
If you live in a sunny area, it doesn’t take much to throw together a solar cooker.
Get some THIN cardboard that you can make in to a cone shape.
cover it with aluminum foil, shiny side up.
refold it into the cone shape and tape it. Cut a hole in the cone tip so that you have a hole at the base 4-6 inches in diameter.
Put your grub in a pot, mount the cooker above it so that the sun is shining into it, and keep an eye on it, cause it’s gonna cook!
PTB = Powers That Be
I posted this after Katrina:
Hurricane Preparedness ( and general “bad times” links )
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1507830/posts?page=41#41
I’ve wondered about the Road Warrior scenario for a while. It’s possible, but I’m not convinced it would last very long.
Americans have ALOT of guns. And how many breakins could the average thug do before he got dropped dead on the spot? Not many at all. Three if he’s lucky.
So assuming the riff-raff don’t have a very high life expectancy, things could calm down and become more manageable in a couple weeks. But it would never be the same again.
Organization, the ability to solve problems with the materials on hand, living as frugally as possible, that sort of thing.
Quix, in the aftermath of Hurricane Andrew, a cat 5, in South Dade County, nothing worked when the sun came up. No telephones, no electricity, no stores to buy anything, no food, no nothing. You couldn’t call the cops, or an ambulance. No stop signs were left, no traffic lights, roads were impassible.
Once a very few stores opened up, and it took days, everything was on a cash only basis for days more.
How did people react? For a time, everyone worked together and went out of their way to be helpful to each other, for the most part. It was kind of inspiring, really. Later on, depression set in for many, but on the whole, it was handled well by the guy in the street.
However, and this is what I think you are getting at, the hurricane event did make very clear how fragile civilization really is and how much it relies on the constructs we have put in place to preserve it.
Interesting point. If the old saying about the 10% of the population causing the most problems (REALLY violent) is true, they would be killed off pretty quickly. Perhaps their bodies in the street would serve as a warning to the next 20-30% that are on the edge. In our rural area, any band of thugs roaring in would face gunfire from many directions. They would be left on the road no matter how bad they smelled, as per sentence #2.
wow, that gives you something to think about, doesn’t it?
The better design is not a cone but a parabola with the cooking vessel at the focus (i.e. not behind the tip but in front of it).
Interesting point. If the old saying about the 10% of the population causing the most problems (REALLY violent) is true, they would be killed off pretty quickly. Perhaps their bodies in the street would serve as a warning to the next 20-30% that are on the edge. In our rural area, any band of thugs roaring in would face gunfire from many directions. They would be left on the road no matter how bad they smelled, as per sentence #2.
Probably true. But UknowhutImean.
BTW, if the SHTF, you’re not gonna be very popular if you complain about the food... ya gotta talk like this
Cold beans??? Yummy! Serve em up!!
Siamese cat liver? Yummy! Serve em up!!
That depression that set in after awhile was largely based on the fact that some people had electricity, others didn’t, sometimes within the same neighborhood or housing development. People without electricity would drive by areas that were lit and functioning. It got to the point where we live that we just didn’t say anything about our electricity being back - this after 11 days without.
There was a great deal of grumbling about “privileged areas” because of the people who lived in that area. Not true, of course, but the comments were there.
This is not rocket science. It is called management, which is a set of learned skills and processes, combined with common sense and experience.
Unfortunately, businesses have abandoned the practice.
People did not freak out, either.
But, we did have the State, cities and towns and the national guard feeding and watering poor and unprepared people and we had hotel owner volunteers and FEMA housing them. We had enough police to patrol underclass areas.
If it happened on a National level and there were not enough resources and cops to go around...or if the Feds overreacted and abused people with marshall law we would have had a different experience.
Makes sense, to me.
Particularly with a purported looming bank holiday in Sept.
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