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.

That was a gut wrenching story. It is frightening to watch the mob mentality form, grow and take over otherwise amiable people.

Thanks for telling us what happened. Its a wake-up call.

My apologies if this is in the wrong forum, perhaps a mod can direct me to the right one.

I experienced the same thing a few years back and I WAS the cashier!

It was really scary; it got to the point that I grabbed the mic and screamed at them to shut up and listen or leave the store right then!
I told them it took all of 5 minutes to reset the system and if they had not left themseleves that minute amount of time in their day to wait. They were to push their carts aside and leave the store!
My manager had no balls and well it is a womans' intuition to calm down the children and give them a talking too.
Needless to say it got deathly quite till I was able to get the system back up, then it was biz as usual!

Nothing worse than upset sheeple...Pure panic...

We live in the mountains of CA, & frequently get evacuated for forest fires....They ALWAYS warn us to keep 1/2 tank of gas in the vehicles so we can get down the mountain....During an evacuation in 2003, I witnessed fist fights @ the gas pump...Normal neighbors were yelling & screaming @ each other, pushing, & slugging it out....WE WERE WARNED!!! I drove by the mess which had reached into the street, and was 'sadly happy' that I heeded the warning....Sheeple are going to go CRAZY!!!!

What I am curious to know is how the ATM worked and in the other posters case how the microphone worked when there was no power in either case? Did the electric come back on and the store's computer system didn't work?

Convenience is a curse when it disappears.

Always have a C note tucked in the back of a purse or wallet.

Always have a few days of food, fuel and water available at home.

If you can't get through the next 3 days without food,fuel water or cash then you just aren't ready for the real world.

Nope, we don't live in the real world. We live in a fabricated dream world that can go away in an instant. Don't take it for granted.

The sheer idiocy of the common man never ceases to amaze me.

To see this happen must have been quite a sight...for people to ignore thousands of years of evolution and adaptation and give in to instinct over loss of control (which is what many conflicts boil down to, if you stop and analyze the situation)

A psych professor of mine used an example to support his theory of man's basic need for control - he laid his infant son gently on his back, and just as gently held his arms down, restricting his ability to roll over. It took less than 10 seconds for the child to fly into a rage. Fights in long lines at the bank, grocery store melt-downs and even road rage all stem from from a loss of internal locus of control, even momentary. Throw in the mob mentality, and you have the fixins for a potentialy dangerous (and actually embarassing) bout of anarchy.

The human race has SUCH a long way to go.

In a world as we have established, where we are on the umbilicus of The System, these things will happen.

Now... Imagine the difference if there was free energy flowing - Zero Point Energy tapped and available to all of us to run refrigerators, cars, TV's, stoves, A/C units, heaters, hair dryers, ad infinitum...

Imagine if no money was needed...

Imagine if food was distributed logically, rather than via profit motive...

All this would eliminate the issues seen in the OP. And we can put this together if we get enough shifted into the abundance paradigm. To see how, to understand the need to spread the paradigm... I offer my book, a tool to illustrate how we can change things. It's linked in my sig.

I was the Manager of Information Systems for the nations largest Natural Foods Cooperative. All it took was an incident like you were describing to happen one time for the Board of Directors to grant me an annual budget of $750,000 to make sure that it never happened again.

We had tertiary systems in place. If a Server went down, two others would take it's place. If the power went out, every system had two forms of power backup. If our local 100MB/s Internet connection went out we still had Satellite Uplink and Dial-Up to handle all transactions at the PoS Cashiers.

Yes, before Point of Sale Systems and UPC Codes everything was marked manually with a price tag. However, now days no store that does > 6 Million per annum does that. Without your Point of Sale System, you can't scan or weigh any thing. In the good old days, before Credit Card Fraud, you could manually take a carbon of a Credit Card. Now, not only do most businesses not have these devices, but their Merchant Accounts won't allow them to process Cards manually anymore. Without some kind of Internet Connection, you cannot process Credit Cards, Debit Cards, Food Stamps or WIC. ATMs are the same way.

When it came time to get a Backup Generator our company had to make a tough decision....keep power running to our Server Farm and our Point of Sale Systems, or keep the power running to the Refrigerator and Freezer Units. Our company decided that the Servers and Point of Sale Systems were more important. We could write the contents of the Refrigerators and Freezer Units off as a loss and Insurance would cover it. You can't write off people panicking and business lost from not being able to check people out during an extended Power Outage.

when it gets to that point in a real shtf scenario, you need to wait in hiding nearby the parking lot (preferrably walmart)
Throw all your morals out the window
Get mean, angry, hungry, animal insticts.
Wait for a porky "walmart family" to exit the store with substantial food in cart
fire a few rounds at father figure
wait for family to scatter
move in with your well armed convoy scoop up your red baron pizzas and sunny delight
return with your unemployed ex con roomates to your duplex / halfway house

[edit on 10-8-2009 by patientobserver]

Awesome thread!

I have said for several years that if a terrorist really wanted to disable the United States and cause the needless deaths of millions of people, they need not even come here. A simple computer virus would work better than a bomb.

Think about it: We have become so dependent on computers and Internet communication that we can't survive without them. Computers and the Internet can't operate without electricity. Mass electricity is dependent on computers. What would you do, for instance, if the power went off and stayed off? Most people wouldn't have a clue. How many people use heat pumps or electric haters for climate control? How many people carry no cash and depend instead on that credit card? How many people are unable to walk more than 100 yards? How many people do not own a simple transistor radio? How many people have no candles or oil lamps for light? How many homes would be defenseless if the power to the alarm system were to run dry of electricity?

How many businesses are simply unable to operate without the POS terminals? How many warehouses depend on conputerized systems to perform the logistics of moving their product?

How many people own hand tools: hand drills instead of power drills, handsaws instead of circular saws, hammers instead of nail guns, wrenches instead of impact drivers? How many homes have no dependable flashlight? How many people one hand-powered lawn tools, push mowers, scythes, etc.

Precious few.

The power companies are run by computer as well. That means one virus that can target them and it's all over. People will panic and begin to loot and pillage, fighting over the smallest things. People will die in such an event, in the millions.

Me? I'll be sitting here grumbling about not being able to get on-line, while I play a family game by lantern light and then head out to do some yard work. I have hand tools to work with. I'll be able to build a fire to cook food. I'll be able to get food, whether from a garden, cans in the barn, or wildlife. The one thing I will probably miss more than the Internet would be the TV.... might be fun to watch the news reporters trying to cover this story.

Oh, well, I have my little transistor radio in case any stations manage to stay on the air.

TheRedneck