The Truth About Neighbors, Coworkers, & Friends in Survival Situations
April 24, 2020
by Daisy Luther
It would be nice if the success or failure of our preparedness group was able to be chalked up only to those within our inner circles. The people by whom you’re surrounded can strongly affect the outcome of an event, as many of us have discovered during the COVID-19 lockdowns taking place all over the world.
And now, many of us are realizing that there’s also a lot to learn about the folks just outside our inner circles: our neighbors, our co-workers, our extended families, and other communities in which we’re involved like churches or schools.
Behavior outside of the group.
While our connections with these people aren’t as intimate as those within our groups, in some cases they can still threaten an otherwise solid survival plan. Some of the people described below may sound familiar after weeks of movement restriction.
- The people you warned for months if not years that they needed to put some food aside, make arrangements for their prescriptions, and buy some extra toilet paper and soap.
- Folks who know more than you now wish they did about your pantry and who’ve made it clear that they think it’s “greedy” that your family has so much while others have so little
- People we used to really like boasting on Facebook how they snitched on somebody for some innocuous thing they felt flouted the “rules”
- Neighbors taking a sudden and noticeable interest in your garden or your chickens
- People in the neighborhood who are no longer working and now just sit on their porch all day and closely watch what everyone else is doing – including people unloading supplies from their cars into their homes
- The nosy neighbor who demands that everything be “fair” and wants to take a tally of anything – people, water, supplies, guns, you name it.
- That guy down the street you never liked in the first place who is becoming even more unlikeable by promoting himself as some kind of neighborhood watch king, handing out unsolicited advice and warnings, or maybe trying to set up “rules” by which he expects everyone else to abide
- The people who are moving closer and closer to overstepping the boundaries of civil behavior – they’re doing small things dropping their trash in your yard or blatantly looking inside the windows of your car – but it’s an escalation
- The co-worker who asks way more questions about your preparedness level than is really appropriate
- The community group (church, social club, volunteer organization) that wants donations or participation in a way that is likely to threaten your OPSEC (operational security – more on that later)
You know the ones. They’re trying to get just a little too close for comfort. We’ve probably all seen somebody over this period of time and thought, “Yeah, I’m going to have to watch that guy.”
If the situation were to worsen, you would indeed have to watch that guy.
Identify “who” your neighbors and coworkers are
The people around you can be beneficial, neutral, or a threat. It’s best to determine which one they are as early as possible in an emergency.
A beneficial person will have supplies or skills or just plain manual labor to trade for any assistance. These are the folks who don’t feel entitled to a handout and most of the time, they’d prefer not to owe other people a favor. Remember that “beneficial” can mean different things at different times. Right now, things aren’t too crazy so making a deal with a well-armed neighbor to help you with security may seem unrealistic. But later on, that well-armed neighbor may be just the person you want on your side. Think ahead.
A neutral person is just about as gray as you are. They may not be of much assistance but they’re also not a direct threat. This might be the elderly woman across the street, the coworker who keeps to himself and minds his own business, or a member of your church community with whom you simply have little in common. It doesn’t mean they’re bad and it doesn’t mean they’re good. It could go either way but they may be harmless. Keep an eye on neutral people and stay gray yourself.
A threat is exactly what it sounds like. A threat can range from a belligerent drunk to a group of teen thugs to a neighborhood busybody who is involving herself in everyone’s business. A threat might also be more low-key – it might be the guy down the road who watches your daughter a little too closely or the snitch who peeks through the curtains right before the cops roll up every single time. Avoid the threat, but watch them. Watch them carefully. If you’re good at reading people, you’ll often be able to catch some hints before they escalate.
Don’t get too comfortable with the original classification – if someone who you thought was beneficial begins to behave like a threat, believe what you’re seeing. Don’t stick stubbornly to your initial impression.
Some people are just scared.
Some of the folks described above aren’t deliberately malicious. They’re realizing too late that they should have been better prepared, so they want to get closer to those who got ready ahead of time.
Most of their actions are ruled by fear.
They may become inadvertent threats if they become more desperate as time goes on. They may outright ask for some eggs, some toilet paper, a cup of sugar for whatever they’re baking. And your response is like a choice between the devil and the deep blue sea. If you help them out, they may expect you to continue doing so. If you do not help them out, they may get angry and talk to others about your “selfishness.” The next thing you know, you have an assortment of angry people pounding on your door.
It’s up to you how you handle this, but I strongly suggest you do it in a manner that discourages future requests.
- “Yeah, I can spare a couple of eggs now, but pretty soon, we’re going to be eating omelets morning, noon, and night. I can’t believe how the store is out of everything. I haven’t had a full grocery cart during my last three trips.”
- Another option is to offer a trade – “You know, I am out of flour. I’d be happy to trade some eggs for some flour.”
- And finally, you could say, “I’m sorry, we are nearly out of TP ourselves. But I’d be happy to pick some up for you the next time I’m at the store if I can find any.”
Those are just a few possibilities. If you can offer help in a way that doesn’t put you at risk, it won’t hurt to do so. Building rapport among neighbors is always a good idea.
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/neighbors-coworkers-friends-survival/