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| dys·to·pi·a noun
a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression,disease, and overcrowding.
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I took my EC to the movies last week. It was a fascinating glimpse into a dystopian world of chaos and need – hordes of confused people in a strange, bleak world, devoid of technology. It was eerie.
And that was just the crowd outside the theater.
(See what I did there? I made it look like we went to some sic-fi movie, but we didn’t. AND I got to use the word “dystopia” IN CONTEXT. This is starting off so good!)
What really happened is that I took my EC to go see a movie, and when we rounded the corner to the box office, we saw a zillion people standing in lines. It only took a second to realize there was some sort of problem. So we decided to skip the line and go to one of the self-service kiosks and buy our tickets. Just as we approached, a manager-type taped a paper onto the screen that simply said,
“CASH ONLY”
So, we got in one of the regular box office lines with the rest of the people and waited. All of the windows now had “CASH ONLY” signs above them. I thought to check my wallet and realized I only had a one dollar bill, so I went to the well, and asked my EC. She had one dollar too. (Which is weird, because she always seems to have a twenty magically hidden away somewhere in that no-man’s-land she calls her purse.)
Two bucks. We needed a twenty – Ah, the ATM! I left my EC in line for the tickets, and went around the corner to the ATM, only to find a line some twenty people deep. I did some quick math and figured 20 people at 1 minute each, allowing for some to stand there and try to remember their PIN numbers, would mean that we might just make our movie. That was the plan – until the ATM ran out of money. Of course, people kept trying even after they were told the ATM was out of money – I guess they figured it was like a Slurpee machine, and if you wait long enough, the ATM will make more.
I caught my EC’s eye, and motioned for her to join me – she had almost made it to the window, because the line moved quickly. Apparently many of the people figured that just because the entire debit/credit card processing system was down, it didn’t necessarily mean it was down for them. They walked away bewildered.
It was strange watching people try to figure out what to do. Many just gave up and left. Due to my EC’s cleverness, we went to a nearby hotel and used their ATM, and came back and enjoyed our movie.
As we were driving, we talked about how weird the whole thing was, and how accustomed we are to our technology. I rarely carry cash – mostly debit, or AmEx to earn points for travel. Apparently, there are a lot of people nowadays who don’t carry cash.
Then I had one of those thoughts that bothered me, so I promptly shared it with my EC:
It is one thing to miss a movie because you don’t have access to cash – but what if this were a long term problem, and it wasn’t a theater, but a grocery store, or a gas station – or ALL of the grocery stores and gas stations and banks? What if the system went down – for a month?
What would we do? How would we access money? How would we purchase anything? How would we go to movies, or even rent one at RedBox? Sorry.
Yeah, it freaked me out a little. We have been watching the TV show “Revolution” where electricity has been interrupted for decades, throwing society back to a more primitive state. (I could have used dystopian again here, but I restrained myself.) It does give one pause…
Prophets have been telling us for years (link) to have a cash reserve on hand. For me the key phrase is “on hand.” My cash reserves don’t help much if I don’t have access to them. (I’m not even going to get into the scenario where that cash becomes worthless and we end up bartering with labor and commodities.)
I know there are lots of experts on preparedness that know how to make all sorts of stuff out of food storage wheat. Preparedness is one of the great gospel hobbies. But storing food is not the part that troubles me.
The areas of preparedness that trouble me are:
• Cash Reserves: There always seems to be something that our extra cash is needed for.
• Fuel: I have no subterranean fuel storage system. I have two propane tanks, and lots of furniture I could burn.
• Prescription Medicines: We really don’t need as much food storage as it would appear – because some of my family members would probably not be around very long if the pharmacy shut down. Try telling your health insurer that you would like a year’s supply of asthma medicine.
Because of this weird experience last week, I have already accomplished a few things:
1) I now have some cash on-hand at home.
2) I have possibly freaked you out as well.
3) I now keep a twenty hidden in my wallet for emergency movies.
Two years ago my family, and our whole town was forced to evacuated due to a forest fire. We did not have cash on hand when we left our house at 10pm on a Sunday night. Lesson learned: always have cash — and in small bills, like ones and fives.
Over here in the UK we are facing an European Union mandated law which restricts the legal cultivation of seed to an approved list, which contains mostly genetically modified, sterile, strands. So, just in case I should ever need a 2nd, 3rd or 4th year of food I am also stockpiling heritage and native seeds because I not be able to buy them in the future.
Once again I’m reminded that I read this blog 50% because of MMM and 50% because of your commenters. There, that should help keep you humble for a few days.
Some of MMM’s scenarios actually happened in NJ/NYC during Hurricane Sandy. I have friends who were waiting for hours for gas only to find the station ran out. The ATMs stopped working because there was no power. People were going to other states to get gas and food if they could. The small bills are a very important part of your food storage scenario. It may be worth it to have a bicycle if you needed to go anywhere outside of walking distance of course a lot people couldn’t walk anywhere during the days after Sandy because power lines were down and that’s dangerous.
I am allowed to order my meds in 90 day increments and I have several months supply because I try to fill them up when they expire. I also keep a seven day supply of meds in my emergency go bag at work. I have a thyroid condition and although I won’t die because I’m be off my meds, I tend to not be able to think straight without them. Plus I’d be too tired to help any one. It may be worth to get a few day’s prescription from your doc so Gary’s scenario could be avoided. I think most doctors would understand the need to have an extra script.
I’m glad that I’m not the only person who worries about fuel and meds. Luckily nobody in my family depends on them but I sure hope that if something like the show Revolution happens that I don’t need surgery for anything.
Real world – my wife is very ill and depends on meds. During our evacuation for a hurricane we ended up in another state. No one would refill her meds – not even the chain store she usually used back home. We ended up in the ER and went to see a local doctor the next morning to get a prescription. He would not give one because he could not talk to her doctor back home – with no telephones or internet it was not possible. Back to the ER. After three days the new doctor finally gave us a prescription.
Just a thought for you about the meds b/c I know someone who needs medication or will die. You can find some meds. online and order them from other countries. Granted you are taking a chance, but if it came down to it those meds. from Mexico (or where ever) would probably be better than nothing.
Since we have animals (dogs, cats, goats, chickens, ducks, llamas, and sheep) we make sure we have enough supply to last them through the winter until the pasture grows in the spring. It’s easier to stockpile meds for animals so we always have penicillin and oxytet on hand along with other emergency supplies we can find at IFA. Although it says animal use only on the label, I would use them if there was an emergency.
While some health issues are not curable many of the maladies we take prescription medication for can be remedied by some focused serious healthy eating and regular exercise. Kinda seems like that could be part of a preparedness plan. Being as healthy as possible all of the time. And an additional bonus is Elder Scott mentioning (I think it was last October’s conference) that healthy habits lead to an increase in revelation. Wowsers!
I have a three day supply of prescription meds by the same system that Mandie uses. It’s been helpful for those times I’ve forgotten to get a refill before the weekend. I think that (unless they are a controlled substance) if you can get your dr to give you written prescriptions for a week or a month’s worth or so you could keep it with your important papers for a year and if you have to evacuate or have family in an unaffected area, you have options. Probably easier done with an LDS doc….
I’ve gone to dealing strictly in cash. Splenda pays the bills on line, but I do everything in cash. If I have no cash, I have nothing to spend. Works well as a budget for me too. Win-win. Cash on hand at all times as well as some stashed away.
And dude, I’m stockpiling. I can’t garden or can food, or grind wheat so I’m loading up on cigarettes, liqour and tampons. Add those to my cache of guns and ammo and I figure I can barter for just about anything. Those are essentials (for some people) that no one thinks of.
Good point about the prescriptions. I doubt insurance companies will ever allow us to do that. Sheesh – I can’t even get more than a month’s supply and can’t refill before the expected date!
Sounds like your bartering experience consists of a stint in the “Big House.”
That’s why she wears sunglasses and uses an alias.
hahaha! A sense of humor will get us through anything!
Don’t forget to stock up on small bills and coins. If cash were in short supply and all you had was a $100 bill, that is exactly what you would pay for something that might normally cost $5. Just sayin! 🙂 My husband and I took the advice of our dear prophet (and Dave Ramsey too actually!), and got our emergency supply of cash saved up and we’ve actually had to dip into it a few times in those cases of emergency. It’s been a blessing to have and we’ve replenished what we’ve used. Thank you for posting this!
Beloved was a big believer in keeping a little cash on hand. Very helpful in those first crazy days after he died. My focus has been on getting out of debt as quickly as humanly possible. While putting as much into savings as humanly possible. But this next payday I will follow your excellent example and squirrel some cash in small bills and then hope I remember where it is should I need it. Thank you. And should you need a folding walker, a really tall pair of crutches, or a chemo spill kit…
To be a realist, and a downer, at some point the people dependent on medication in your home will die if they have Type 1 diabetes like my daughter. Even with a year supply of insulin, which is nearly impossible to achieve due to regulations and red insurance tape, insulin only lasts for around 30 days outside of the fridge and the cold winter months. I suspect she will have more than 3 days. Probably about ninety, but they will be horrible hours of watching her wither away from starvation. All of which has lead me to realize that regardless of how hard we try to be physically prepared, being spiritually prepared for eventualities, like death, are perhaps even more vital for our mortal experience.
I believe with all of my heart that for many, the laying on of hands by faithful bearers of the Priesthood will carry us through the lack of life-saving medicine and/or medical care. I understand that it isn’t always God’s will that we be ‘healed,’ but if we have faith and do all we CAN do – even if it’s just a little bit – the Lord will bless us in a way that’s best for us in the scope of eternity; whether that’s by helping or healing us or just bringing us back to Him.
I always enjoy your humor- even during some pretty important topics. It is so important to be prepared. I know my family had to live off food storage for the year the local company shut it’s doors and thousands of people in our community were without work. We didn’t have cash on hand because there was none. I always remember a neighbor telling my mom about a sale on school pants for only $5 a pair. She had no idea that my parents didn’t even have $5 . I remember collecting aluminum cans with my family so my parents could get enough $ for bread and milk. But my parents did have food storage which sustained us during that time.
When I was a struggling single mother- I tried my best to build up some food storage for my family. The mice got into the house and into the pantry and ate through EVERYTHING!!!!
My entire food storage supply was destroyed. I cried to Heavenly Father telling Him what a sacrifice it was to build that supply up only to have it destroyed. But it was then that I remembered a talk from long ago (sorry, don’t remember the source) that said as long as we do the best we can, to be prepared- the Lord will bless us in our times of need. I found this to be true.
I know it is a serious concern regarding the medicine that family members need- many of my family members are required to take daily meds. But I still chuckled at the part where you mentioned you really wouldn’t need a lot of food storage because the family members wouldn’t be around to use it if they didn’t have their medicine. It’s so true. And I think one of the most important ways we can prepare is to spiritually prepare. If we are prepared spiritually, I really don’t think we will have a lot of fear if we ever find ourselves in a serious situation. I think that is when faith will be exercised and we will know that the Lord will take care of us (even if that means death). Faith and fear cannot reside together.
Thank you for this thought provoking post- and the laughs.
My insurance lets me refill my prescription every 3-1/2 weeks. If I am paying attention and fill it as soon as I can, I can stockpile just over a weeks worth of meds every month. The biggest thing with this is to make sure you use the oldest medicine first so that it doesn’t expire.
I had never thought about prescription medication until a couple of weeks ago when I was talking about preparedness with my brother. If I couldn’t get mine, I’d eventually sleep again without them. He, however, is a type one diabetic. He figures he would live three days once his current month supply was up. That scares me. How can you prepare for that? Can you pay a non insurance price somewhere to stock pile? Scary reality!
Well…your work here is done! I’m just sitting here imagining my diabetic son dying because his parents weren’t prepared. How DO you store a year’s supply of prescriptions?
Sorry about that. Maybe one of my readers will step up with some answers to this dilemma…
This is great. It is a good reminder for our emergency preparedness! Denise is right on the money too. (lol) If you really want to scare yourself silly read One Second After. THAT will really inspire you to make sure you’re prepared. It also makes you think: what skills do I have to offer in a world with out tech?
Ahh man, nice job freaking me out 😉 Now we need to work on having more money in the bank *and* out of the bank. It’s definitely a good idea and every other time I’ve thought about it I just try and ignore it, but maybe I need to heed the prompting this time 🙂 Thanks for the reminder.
One thing I’ve learned from people in disaters is to have SMALL bills on hand. I’ve made it a “food storage” item to have 1’s and 5’s on hand as well as others for that reason. I was told that you could purchase gas or groceries, but if you had nothing smaller than a $20, that’s what you paid for said item as there were no small bills.
I’m also storing essential oils for health/medicine. I know you’re not on this bandwagon yet, but we haven’t had an antibiotic for 3 years in our house because I have it all with oils. I’ve been able to treat so much with them. And yes, there’s years and years of research on them. The drug companies just don’t want the public to know that they are really just trying to create a synthetic form of a plant and that basic nutrition and plants will heal our bodies. They don’t make any money that way. 😉 So feeling safe/prepared in this area.
Great article! It’s true. People won’t know what to do. Thanks again for another great reminder! You’re awesome!!
We love essential oils in our house, too. When we end up catching some bug or another, we’re out of the woods so much faster because of our oils. I wasn’t a believer at first, but as we started using them, I started seeing (and feeling) a huge difference. I never thought of storing them long-term for emergencies. Great thought, thank you!
As a young married woman of 5 1/2 years, I’d like to toot my own horn a little and say that as far as food storage is concerned, our little family of 4 is doing remarkably well. I’m always adding to it little by little and we’ve got quite a big lot stored for our family. That said, it never occurred to me to need cash money on hand, not in the bank, not under the thumb of technology…etc etc. Thanks for this!
being in construction, in CA, in this economy, our cash stores are pretty depleted. I keep praying for one of the big jobs we bid to come thru…but not yet. In the meantime, we are learning ways to use our food stores creatively…not easy with three teen boys. 😀
My dad was in construction (still is, actually) during my growing up years, and I can remember my parents talking about how to stretch the money from bid to bid. It was hard. May God continue bless your family with everything you need.
Another analogy is the ten virgins. How many will think that as they arrive at the ticket window without oil it will be okay if they do not have anything; that they will be an exception to the rule.