The Breakdown of Society.

In a crisis situation, how fast do you think people will turn on each other?
You may be surprised.

I decided a while ago I would take a few days of vacation around the 4th of July to go up to Ohio and visit some family. We had it planned for about two months. I didn't bother to check the news on Saturday morning when I left since I left at 6am. Had a full tank of gas and left out of Dunn headed for Cleveland. I figured I would have to fill up in West By God Virginia. There is a rest stop on I77 with an Exxon station. They usually charge 40 cents more per gallon, but it's very convenient to use. I pulled in there with about 1/8th of a tank. My car said it could go 80 more miles.

Then I heard about all the storms. They said power was out in most of WVA, VA and Ohio. I started thinking about my gas needs in a hurry. There was no gas at this rest stop. No power. I drove down the road through Charleston, and found a few places open, but very long lines. I thought, well, if these places are open, I can drive down the road a bit and just deal with the I77 gas needs instead of the whole town's needs.

Turned out to not be the right call. The next three exits had no power. My car says --- where it once said 80. We were at an exxon station that the owner was busy locking up. I had called my family to tell them my situation and try to come up with a plan. They were about 4 hours away and if they brought me gas, they would also need enough to get back on, so it now gets a bit more complicated. I noticed a guy helping what looked like his brother with a gas can filling up his truck. I asked him if he knew where there was a gas station with power. We were in luck. The next exit down had power but had an hour wait. All of the sudden, an hour wait didn't seem that bad.

We decided to drive to the next exit and hope there was enough gas in the car. The kids agreed that since we were stuck , it didn't really matter where we were stuck. So we drove and made it. After waiting in line with no AC,(I know, boo,hoo) for about 45 minutes, I could see that I was next at the pump. I noticed that there were two other pumps that NOBODY was using. A truck slipped in and filled up while I was waiting. I figured after he pulled out, I would pull in. After all, I had waited my turn. Before I could get out of line, another truck pulled in behind the one pulling out. It kind of irritated me since I waited in line and he didn't. But I pulled up to the other pump and started to get my gas.

Next thing I know, the F bomb is dropping. Two full figured women are exchanging threats right next to me. A woman who had been waiting decided to let the line jumpers know of her displeasure. Luckily neither one seemed all that eager to throw down, so it ended as abruptly as it started.

My Kids and I were just talking about how society would react in a doomsday scenario. We laughed a bit that this was a good indication. So in conclusion, in a SHTF situation, mankind will resort to escalating violence in the first 5 hours.

reply to post by network dude


Personally, "people" would be my most arguable concern in a SHTF situation. I would worry more about people than anything else for sure. If in 5 hours without power we get into situations like the one you told us about, imagine not having power for months, food supplies running empty and the lack of hope in everyone's hearts would drive most of them mad, which would become yet another thing to worry about (people). I was talking to a friend about this topic once and I said to him that if there were aliens or God knows what planning our demise, they wouldn't have to worry too much or go too far, just take out our electricity and wait a few days, we will manage to finish the job for them ourselves.

Humans in a crisis can be scary and unpredictable , i don't trust anyone as it is and ill be even worse if the SHTF. People will take and destroy and even kill for something as simple as water or even a mobile phone....we turn to our instincts very quick and become animals.

good example in these movies...

The Mist

and even

Lord of the flies

reply to post by network dude


I am confused , why did people at the front of the queue not use the " unused pumps " ?

reply to post by network dude


In that kind of a situation, big cities are like a ticking time bomb. If most people are getting easily frustrated by day2day problems, I don't want to imagine how it will turn out to be when SHTF.... Nice writing skills btw

This is a great case of what would happen in a SHTF scenario. Although, if there was a crisis, this would have turned out so much worse. I could defiantly see people getting shot or stabbed over something like this. Imagine how much worse it would be over water in a grid locked city.

Originally posted by ignorant_ape
reply to post by network dude

 

I am confused , why did people at the front of the queue not use the " unused pumps " ?

I was too. There were two unused pumps. That is why I kind of didn't mind that they guy jumped in line. Nobody else was smart enough to use them. I did exchange pleasantries with the guy and he said they expected to be out of power for 5 days and he was filling his truck and a few 5 gallon cans.

reply to post by Shuye


This was Fairplain WV. I don't think it was a very big city, but that made the situation all the more intense.
Thanks for the compliment.

If the general public can't contain themselves during Walmart Black Friday sales, I can only imagine what they would do in a real crisis.

reply to post by DukeEligos


some of use are trying to feed our family i cant wate untill they go nuts, ill get to set back in the woods and stop working for the man.and do a little more fishing & hunting your puppydog will be good fryed....there are to many that dont have a clue.they take, take, take....they panick when it runs out

That's a good story, and a good indicator of how many people react in situations like this. My favorite example is hurricane Katrina, and we all know what happened there. My priorities for the past several years have been as follows:

1. Learn wilderness self-reliance skills and become comfortable living in the forest, off the land. The vast majority of people could not even start a fire, much less survive in the woods for more than a couple of days, if that long. I can live there indefinitely, and comfortably as well. This is the most important priority, in my opinion.

2. Plan, and know how to navigate, an escape route. In any SHTF scenario, the first thing I will be doing is getting the hell away from population centers, or even small towns which will be the first to run out of supplies. I also have 3 levels of escape, each with increasing distances from human populations. The 3rd level is waaaaaaay out there. People trample each other to death over a pair of Michael Jordan shoes. You can only imagine what they will do when they need food and there is none.

3. Gather a kit that will facilitate my survival in the wilderness. This kit, or bug-out bag as most people call it, is small enough to carry on my person, and light enough to run with. It contains everything I need to obtain shelter, water, food, and fire. I don't like the term bug-out though, because it implies panic. In the famous words of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, DON'T PANIC.

4. Desensitization. If this "thing" goes down on a large scale, you WILL witness some horrible s**t, so you might as well get used to it beforehand. Its nice to think that people would come together and help each other, but if you are realistic about it, you understand this is not a possibility.

The largest obstacle in your way will be other people trying to take what you have for themselves. Don't let them.

In New Orleans, after hurricane Katrina, survival groups were forming after just a few days. In the superdome, groups formed almost immediately.

I think that's the best indication from very recent history of what might happen when TSHTF.

Originally posted by DukeEligos
Humans in a crisis can be scary and unpredictable , i don't trust anyone as it is and ill be even worse if the SHTF. People will take and destroy and even kill for something as simple as water or even a mobile phone....we turn to our instincts very quick and become animals.

People kill each other over mobile phones and branded clothing NOW. We don't need TSHF scenario for that to happen. Just go to Detroit, New York, LA, or Chicago.

reply to post by network dude


Damn ! 5 hours ?

Dude, that is some pretty harsh judgement of your fellow man. So lets see, society breaks and 5 hours later people are ready to go feral ? You deduce this because two ladies almost went to blows over gas line etiquette, in sweltering temps.

Dude what was your estimation before before this took place ? Like 6 hours ?
I'm sorry, Dude you know I respect you.
But DAMN boy ! I'm glad I don't live in your hood !

SnF anyway.

reply to post by randyvs


Well, nobody started to eat each other, but my point was, the tension was thick, and all it took, was this tiny incident to spark it. Yes, I admit to a bit of mellow drama, but if you were there, I guarantee you would have at least had that confused look on your face.

I love a good girl fight as much as the next, but this had the potential to get ugly early.

You are welcome in my hood anytime. I look out for fellow ATSers. (even the ones that don't like me)


After reading 'One Second After', you kind of think of the worst in these situations.