Back when the Mayans predicted the end of the world in December of 2012, preppers were at their peak of popularity. Doomsday Preppers on NatGeo made them famous, and as millions of Americans tuned in to watch the eccentric people prepare for the end, most people laughed at them.
Those same people that mocked the preppers are the same ones that are now bitching about not being able to find what they need at grocery stores. They’re the ones that are complaining on social media that there is no hand sanitizer or toilet paper to be found.
Meanwhile, the preppers are hunkered down with just about everything they need in order to make it through this new age of social distancing and the fight against the Coronavirus.
I was first introduced to what it meant to be a prepper from the show Doomsday Preppers, and I wanted to be one of those people. I wanted to be prepared to keep my family safe whenever something major happened.
When I started prepping, I had no idea what I was doing and had no money to invest in a bunker and 10-years of food. I didn’t go out and buy an arsenal of weapons and a 100-acre survivalist camp.
I bought some extra food, a couple of guns, and picked up whatever items that I thought I might need in a disaster when I went to garage sales. I took care of the basics. I was prepped for when snowstorms hit, and whenever the power went out for a few days. I kept my family safe.
One time when I lost a job and money was really tight, we were able to eat well for a few weeks until I got a new job. But for me, prepping was never really about the supplies, it was about the knowledge.
Despite what they showed on TV, the prepper’s greatest asset is their mind, and that was something that I could invest in. I learned how to bake bread a dozen ways. I learned how to filter and purify water 7 different ways. I learned how supply chains worked, how decisions were made in disasters and most importantly I learned the signs of impending doom.
The best preppers are watchers. People that know the signs, and then use that knowledge to get ready for whatever disaster is coming.
When the Coronavirus broke out in China, and the news started coming in that something serious was happening, I was using Google Translate to read articles and social media posts from China to figure out the truth. The truth was scary, and the signs were there. This thing was going to be big.
I started with masks. I bought a few hundred of the surgical masks, about 25 of the N95 masks just to be safe. As things got worse, I started buying extra food each time I went to the store. Picked up some extra hand sanitizer, soap, wipes and vitamins.
Most importantly, I started sending text messages, and calling friends and family telling them to get prepared. I begged friends and family members and all my pleas fell on mostly deaf ears. I didn’t understand. Why wouldn’t they listen?
As things got worse, I kept texting and calling, and some started to listen. It took people dying in Washington and cases in their states before they started to get the supplies they needed. Even then, some didn’t listen. Some just replied with, “lol”.
Those same people texted or called last week asking if I could find baby formula for them, because they were out in their states. I have friends asking to buy masks from me, but I told them, I don’t have any to sell. Why? Because there are medical professionals in my area that are begging for masks.
Nurses and anesthesiologists that don’t have what they need to face this virus on the front lines. The hospitals don’t even have the supplies they need. I’ve given away most of my surgical masks to people working in hospitals in two states. I’ve given away most of my N95 masks to help the ones that are facing this threat everyday.
My question is, why the hell am I the one giving lifesaving masks to those working in hospitals? Why does some broke prepper who barely has what he needs for his family is supplying something that should have been in the hands of our healthcare workers in the first place?
Why the hell are we caught so off-guard? The truth is, the world needs more preppers. Every leader in America should have the prepper mentality. I’m nothing special, but I saw this coming.
One thing that the Coronavirus will do, is change how Americans vote for leadership. No longer will we vote, because a candidate is a businessman or a great negotiator. In the near future, we’ll vote with a different mentality. The prepper mentality.
The world needs more preppers. We need leaders that can see the real threats that are possible, and ones that can take actions to protect life. After all, life is most important. It’s why I became a prepper. I wanted to take care of my family. We should vote for politicians that have the same goal, to take care of those they’re responsible for. We should vote for those that have the prepper mentality.
Stay safe and take care of each other.
