very interesting - who ya gonna call ?

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Stone Soup
May 16, 2011 at 8:12 pm (Uncategorized)


The world is a scary place these days.

This is, perhaps, stating the obvious. Every day there seems to be a new story out there talking about something horrible going on on the world, or surmising about some scary thing that’s going to happen in the future. When it really comes down to it, no one can predict what is going to happen. No one really knows. Not even us.

It also seems that there are far more people willing to talk about how awful things are than there are people willing to do something about it. Maybe this has always been the case. Even the solutions offered, however, can be quite daunting and scary themselves. Who wants to start stockpiling firearms and bullets? Not me — for a number of reasons, not least of which that I don’t think it would do any good and in fact could backfire horribly. No pun intended.

I will skip talking about food storage, planting your own garden, and emergency preparedness here, because I want to talk about something else — something that isn’t a thing you can buy or a course you can take.

Those of you who know us know that we believe stro0ngly that your greatest weapon is your mind, and your ability to use it, so I’m not going to talk about that either.

I’ve been pondering what seems to be missing in this culture, something that could really help at all times, not just those of disaster and emergency. It may sound overly simplistic, but we believe that a key component lacking is … dum dum DUM ….

… Community.

Think about it for a minute. Perhaps you can remember the not-so-olden days when people knew their neighbors, their shopkeepers, and various other denizens of their community. Now, folks can go years without even talking once to a neighbor, small mom and pop shops have been replaced with retail giants and their enormous turnover rates.

So think about it — if something bad happens, who are you going to turn to? Now, I am in no way denigrading online communities here. In fact, they are a wonderful way to meet people of like mind. But there are problems, too — let’s not even go there with trolls — the wonderful internationalness of online friends will not help you much when the power is out, or when you have something major going on right in your backyard.

I think, too, that there has been a subtle push in culture towards isolationism of the individual. Meaning, the way things seem to be set up these days keeps us from getting to know the people around us — our community.

Now think, if something happens like a natural disaster or something else equally as bad, which would you prefer? To try and face it alone, or to have your neighbors and people nearby work together to help one another. Which do you think will be more effective?

There is a LOT to be said for pooling of resources, Stone Soup style. One person may have medical knowledge to add, while another might have needed supplies to share. Also, neighbors who know you are much more likely to be friendly and helpful rather than suspicious and distrustful if you need help.



I won’t go on and on here … just wanted people to be thinking about this. Emergency preparedness is so much more than stockpiling.

Make friends with your neighbors! Even the weird cat lady!

Community is so important. What good are neighbours if you can`t use them!!!!

I have a unique group of friends. Everyone has a different trade.

Of course I farm so I raise grains and cattle.

One friend is an electrician, another a plumber, another is a carpenter, another a welder, another is a mechanic, another is a hunter. My neighbour has milk cows and another raises sheep and another raises pigs. Another neighbour has an apple orchard. So living in the country is good!

Mic my friend you nailed it fair and square!

Although I have made so many great friendships with people online that I would love to meet up with and have a good laugh with, people tend to forget that if ya really thinking the shit is going to hit the fan..Ya next door neighbour is the one you WILL rely upon. No ifs, no buts.

living in this small community has been a real eye opener for me...people not only speak to each other but when out walking stop and visit.....actually watching out for each other...it's amazing and as it should be...cause we really are in this together

An observation I've made from living in different towns/suburbs and travelling to other cities around the globe is the larger the community the more isolation where the smaller towns on the other hand acknowledge you, be it in the street with a smile and a greeting. In some large cites people are afraid to look at each other in the eyes.

i totally agree with your observation, froggy...and if you do a little experiment and look right at folks..you'll see they all do the same litlle glances to see if they are safe and if you look straight at them and smile..they will do it back to you ....and try it on the next one they come too... and so on..
it's a cool social study...and an amazing testiment to what one person can do with just a smile..