posted on Sep, 29 2009 @ 09:18 AM
That's one of the great things about living out in the so-called uncivilized areas of northern Arkansas. We had our own shtf scenario this past
winter during an icestorm. I lived in a fairly large town at the time and we were without electricity for a week; in the rural areas, it was
close to two months in some places. But here's the thing: for four or five days, none of the businesses had power, either. During that period,
you couldn't buy food, gas, go to the bank or anything...and this wasn't localized, it was regional. Even the places like McDonalds and Walmart
were out, as were the local factories (most couldn't even go to work). It also knocked out most of the area radio stations and cell towers,
severely limiting communications.
People were surprisingly calm. The closest thing we had to a 'riot' happened when one of the local gas stations opened several days later and a
few idiots in the lines got into a fight. It lasted about 15 minutes. Otherwise, people were irritable but civilized. Even though we have enough
guns to fight WW3 down here, I don't think there was even a single shooting. Go figure. The only crime wave was the theft of generators.
That's not the only time something similar has happened, but it was the worst of the bunch. The point is, you sometimes can trust your neighbors
in a short term crisis. Granted, things were getting back to normal after a couple of weeks, but in the intervening period, people didn't go
nuts even though a good portion of them were undoubtedly cold and hungry by that fourth or fifth day when a handful of stores finally started opening.
None of this is to say that you shouldn't prepare, but that your neighbors aren't necessarily your enemy.