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Paranoia... that much is real

Posted 12-09-2008 at 19:36 by Razoreye

There's been threads on here at times dealing with survivalism, preparedness, and self defense. One common theme among them is people chastizing others for being too "paranoid." Paranoia is subjective, to me almost all the folks in the S&P forum are beyond paranoid, same goes with the PI forum and the CI forums. Some carry 3 guns, that's right 3 guns, with them at all times on top of mace, multiple knives, flashlights, etc.

That screams paranoia to me. How much is enough? Then again, I'm a simpler person and hardly ever carry a gun. I do always have a knife and flashlight on me... more for utility reasons than anything else. That said, it is your comfort level and if that's what your perceived need is then so be it. To me if you have to equip up like the 3rd Armored Division you have more problems on you're plate and avoidance or a new lifestyle is in order. But to each his own. If it doesn't affect me then I'm cool with it.

I had a friend that cancelled something on me. He didn't even give me the courtesy of cancelling. I knew he was going to, he's a big time flake. His reason this time? It was 4 days after Obama was elected and he was worried about riots and other nonsense. We talked about the possiblities but I told him in such a small city that the possiblity of riots is zero, especially if Obama wins. I thought I talked him out of that. However, he was absolutely paranoid that shit would happen even after 4 days showed him it was all quiet on the western front. I stopped talking to him because he made a big joke of it even though I looked forward to this all year, I spent major money in preparation, and shit wasn't going so well in my life at this point. This was the final straw and I told him to get back to me when he has figured out what makes him flake so much and what he's willing to do to fix it. Needless to say, I haven't talked to him in a month and a half.

So of those that are told by friends or family that you're paranoid... don't worry about it, everyone has different standards. I do suggest reflecting on yourself to see whether you're driving people away because of your actions.

Comments 2

Total Comments 2

Comments

I read something in this forum that I consider a true statement “one man’s paranoia is another man’s preparedness plan”. As you mention, paranoia is very subjective. I have yet to consider a person that I may consider over-prepared paranoid. Perhaps because I am called that by others? Not sure.

I live in South Florida, Miami to be exact, and our area is prone to being hit by hurricanes. I will admit, they scare me, not so much the hurricane itself but the fear that I may not be properly prepared and my family end up paying the price for it.

Since I was a teen, I would pack a back-pack with some essentials and slept fully dressed when the news indicated a hurricane could hit the area during the night or the early morning. My parents and sister used to laugh and say I was paranoid. When I got married my preparations expanded well beyond that. It was now my house and I could prepare as much as I saw fit. On June 1 I start the purchases of batteries, additional can goods, sternos, additional first aid supplies and the like. As those are used they are replaced with more. It was then my husband who laughed as he saw me running around the house preparing back-packs for each member of the house the second I became aware another hurricane had formed and its trajectory placed it somewhere near here, I also would go to the gas station and get at least 20 gallons of gas (in addition to filling up all our vehicles). As my children got older they too found it terribly amusing. Yes, I was very paranoid but when the stores couldn’t open because there was no power for a week or two or gas stations couldn’t pump gas because there was no power to operate the pumps we had a healthy supply of food and the ability to refill our tanks.

When Katrina hit our area it was predicted it would hit as a high category 1 or low 2. I proceeded with my usual paranoid preparation which provided my family with hours of entertainment. After it hit we were without power for two weeks. At one point the thermostat inside my house read a temperature of 104. The only thing that alleviated that horrendous heat was the constant cold showers we took (no power for the water heaters). We threw sheets over the carpet in the family room and all slept there using three battery operated fans. The fluffiness of the mattress just made you sweat more. Gas was scarce and my supply lasted only for the first week. There were 4 vehicles in this house and we all had to go to work. After Katrina I decided I would not be in the same predicament again, I went and spent over $800 on a generator. Of course, I had to wait until they arrived at the store a couple of weeks later. Again I was told how paranoid I was and what a waste of money that was, people (in general) have a tendency to quickly forget how uncomfortable things were just a couple of weeks before. Obviously, I kept the generator, the various bottles of oil and the extra 5 gallon tanks I had bought for gas.

Then there came Wilma. It hit Miami as a cat 2, but there were gusts with winds in excess of 90 MPH. It did substantial damage to our roof and left our area without power for 3 weeks. Suddenly I was receiving praise for making such a wise investment (HA!). We were able to power three large fans that kept us very comfortable through the night (only one fan allowed during the day), a portable stove top (the kitchen itself would have consumed too much gas), our smallest TV, the fridge, the microwave whenever we needed to heat something, the computer and modem (since I had to work from home). People had learned from Katrina and two days before Wilma hit it was nearly impossible to find gas, most gas stations were empty. Of course, I had 9 – 5 gallon containers of gas but even that proved not to be enough for 3 weeks without power, no gas to be found and a generator that was on 24/7. Yes, I was paranoid for not allowing additional items to be plugged in and increase our consumption of gas, after all everything would be back to normal in about a week or so. Wrong! In spite Andrew being a cat 5 when it hit us the devastation down here after a mere cat 2 hurricane was far greater. Mostly because it was so large that it affected all other counties around us. You would have had to drive pretty far to find a store with power and the amount of gas it would take was not a luxury anyone could afford. There was a gas station on the Turnpike that received regular shipments of gas and they had a generator. Going there during day was a waste of time, lines were miles long and most people actually ran out of gas while on the line. I learned quickly, I would go to sleep at 6 PM and woke up at 3 am, unfortunately, I was not the only one that thought of that and the lines, although not as bad were very long. Once the station ran out of gas the police officers patrolling the lines would force everyone to leave. I stayed and told them I was not there to buy gas, I needed milk. I was allowed to go in, I bought milk and asked for their phone number. I already knew everyone would be sent home when they ran out of gas, now all I needed was a way to be among the first to find out a new shipment had arrived. The next day I woke up at 3 AM again, this time I didn’t drive all the way there, instead I called to see if they had gas. The first time they said they did I thanked them and waited. I called every hour on the hour until they ran out. The guy that answered recognized my voice and told me that he had told me before they had gas. I explained the logic behind my madness. I was waiting for them to run out and receive the next shipment. Everyone would be turned away once they were empty and I just had to make sure I was among the first to find out about the new shipment, thus among the first in line with greater possibilities of getting our tanks filled. The guy was really nice and just wanted to know what made me come up with that plan “Paranoid people have very twisted minds.” I told him. Finally they ran out of gas, he gave me a tip, “Call me back in about 1 1/2 hour.” Obviously, I called in 1 1/4 hour and found out the trucks were already there but it would take about 20 minutes before they could open up again. Needless to say I was there in 15 minutes and waited far enough from the gas station on the emergency side of the road with my emergency lights on. You were only allowed $20 worth for each trip, that meant I had to put gas, leave, exit the highway, get back on again and take another $20. I did this for 4 nights until all cars in the house were filled and every container was filled with gas.

Our neighborhood pulled together and everyone contributed in one way or another, some had big power saws that were used to cut down fallen trees, other had big 4 wheeler trucks, others donated the chains to put on those trucks to remove the cut trunks from the street and clear the path. My kids and other stronger guys in the neighborhood helped remove other heavier items that had fallen in people’s yard to the front so that when the county sent trucks to pick up debris those would be picked up as well. The few of us that had generators stored neighbor’s medication and open formula for their babies. Those of us with cars that consumed little gas volunteered to go to the FEMA stations distributing water and ice. I had enough water in my house for my entire family for a month, but I definitely didn’t have enough for the entire neighborhood. Same was true for food, although we didn’t find out about some neighbors having ran out of food until after we made the trip for water and ice so we had to venture out again.

Some of our neighbors knew I got a tad freaked out with hurricane, they agreed with my husband that it was a bit paranoid of me to take all the preparations I did. I never did say “I told you so!” (but I sure did want to).

Now, the question is, is the fitting label paranoid or prepared?

It is a rather subjective term and one will always be labeled paranoid by those that don’t prepare. You rarely know how much you will need until you actually need it, by then it is usually to late to prepare.

I have no problem with being called paranoid. If you saw the shopping list I have for June 1, the second list I have for when a hurricane forms by the coast of Africa and the third list I have for when the hurricane is 3 or 4 days away from us, you would totally flip.

Posted 12-30-2008 at 21:39 by Misty02 Misty02 is offline

You make a good point and yes it is highly subjective. In your case, being in a disaster prone area I'd say you're very smart.

Sometimes you know the person is "nuts" though. I wrote this particular post about my ex-friend because he just took it too far. He ruined a friendship over something so damned stupid that I just can't comprehend it.

You know, I figured "to each his own" and I still do. He just happened to prove that sometimes a person is just out there beyond any reason. I guess you can say that about most democrats. LOL.

Thanks for your insight, Misty.

Posted 01-08-2009 at 23:53 by Razoreye Razoreye is offline

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