I always laugh at the reaction from the general public to people who as children read the fable of “The Ant And The Grasshopper” and took its lesson to heart.
Most visitors to this back porch, I suspect, keep a reasonable quantity of supplies (food, water, ammo, whatever) handy, especially after the Great Chinkvirus Lockdown and its concomitant emptying of the store shelves by Stupid People who don’t.
What’s worse is that these ignorant assholes persist in excoriating people like us with labels of “selfish”, “hoarders” and worse, even after our recent experience. Here’s one example (I know, it’s formerly-Great Britain, but I know there are people just like that Over Here too):
A MUM-of-two has been slammed as ‘selfish’ after revealing she’s stockpiled enough food to last her and her family until January.
Emma Tarry, 26, appeared on This Morning surrounded by her mountains of groceries, as she revealed her fridge, freezer and cupboards were full of food.
Emma, a mum-of-two from Lancaster, was branded ‘selfish and stupid’ by viewers, as Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield grilled her over her shopping.
The mum revealed she’s hoarded around 400 tins and 700 nappies, and stocked up on essentials like flour to make bread.
She defended her decision, saying: “I think it’s best we go to shops and supermarkets as little as possible. I think stockpiling done properly and don’t go too excessive is ok… if you prepare months in advance or buy it off Amazon.”
Nothing this woman said strikes me as particularly incorrect or, gawd forbid, offensive. And the quantity of food she’s stored for a family of (at least) three people doesn’t seem that excessive. (Break it down: 400 tins for six months for three people is just over one tin per day, per person. She probably needs another 200, just to be on the safe side.)
Emma said one of her children has special needs, and she wants the peace of mind knowing she has access to food and medicine. She said: “If my child needs Calpol… that way at least I’m organised — I just want to make sure myself and my kid is organised.”
And she also pointed out she’s been able to help out family and friends with her food stash, and hasn’t kept it all for herself.
Predictably, the Stupid & Envious Set chimed in:
But viewers were outraged by Emma’s overflowing kitchen, claiming stockpilers like her are the reason behind national shortages.
Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: “This makes me so angry, many people can’t afford that much shopping let alone hoard it. I hope this woman has given some to the food bank. We all need to get on with life, hiding away in doors & hoarding is not the answer.”
So because not everyone can afford to do it means that nobody should do it. Socialism in a nutshell: make everybody equally miserable.
Another tweeted: “That stupid… stockpiling food is all that’s wrong with this greedy selfish world we live in…”
A third wrote: “Not sure why #ThisMorning have got this girl on today. Worried food is going to be rationed, only putting more fear into others and potentially making the panic buying issue worse! People should have learnt from the last lockdown and stop being so selfish.”
While this person said: “Absolutely ridiculous. She just can’t see that she’s part of the problem. Her actions end up having a knock on effect. How many others are behaving the same as her though? This is why our local shops have no loo roll again now!”
Yeah; looking after yourself and your infant children is “selfish”. Someone needs a good ball-kicking, and it ain’t our Emma.
What made me decide to talk about this women, though, is the extra step she’s taken:
Emma previously revealed she’d bought a BB gun to protect her stash, in case anyone tried to steal her mountains of food. She said: “I researched how to legally buy a BB gun or air rifle and bought one from a local gun shop. I’ve previously had shooting lessons on a local gun range, it’s legal and stored correctly and it gives me peace of mind.
“Three weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night and heard someone trying to break into my garden shed. “I stayed upstairs and pointed the BB gun out the window and told the man to ‘eat the dirt’.”
Of course, to the rest of us, what she did is not only laudable, but just plain common sense. (The fact that she’s limited to a damn BB gun instead of a proper 12-gauge… see “formerly-Great Britain”, above.) And this post is useless with at least one pic:
Clearly, her shooting lessons didn’t include a section on trigger discipline, but under the circumstances, I think we can excuse her.
Well done, Emma. Ignore those assholes (arseholes) who are carping at your excellent state of preparedness. And if any of them come sniffing around your house in times of great shortage… all I can say is: have a goodly supply of BBs, and practice fast reloading.
Not one person at this website thinks you’re selfish, or any of that jive. You’re prudent and taking care of yourself, not relying on “the government” to do so. Only in a socialist country could this be a cause for anger.
I don’t have anywhere near that much food, and I woke up this morning thinking about how I need to go in and reorganize my shelves. When I stocked up back in January and February, I sort of stacked it randomly, and I realized I need to get it at least somewhat straightened out.
I’ll probably make a start on getting my tools organized, too, but that’s a much, much more intricate job.
In many conversations nowadays, the only reasonable, rational response is “Eff You.” Punctuated with one, or possibly even two, Murican Freedom Fingers.
A while ago, in some New England college shiitehole, some highly-educated person (see all the sheepskins on his wall?) damned the toilet paper hoarders. He demanded the police go door-to-door to seize all the ill-gotten hoards.
Be sure you’re the first one in the stack, me bucko. You can have my Cottonelle when you pry it from my cold, dead hands.
Why do people talk to anyone other than close friends or like-minded folks about their stash? Better yet, why do they post it on social media?
The mind boggles.
Word. Guns, ammo, cash, food, fuel, even FFS, toilet paper.
Neither confirm or deny.
There’s two different modes of hoarding to consider, just to throw a counter-point out there. If you slowly accumulate your stash over time (say, buying several extra items each week during the normal grocery run), that’s great. Something to encourage. Especially if you do it long before any emergency arrives. More power to you. That appears to be what the lady in the article above has done.
If, however, you wait until an emergency is imminent and then drive to 15 different stores in a 3 county area and buy every single item of XYZ that they have in stock, I’ll be the first to start shooting. There’s been many examples of people buying up every available item, only to go on Craigslist or similar and resell at an insanely high mark-up. I’ve personally swiped an item from someone else’s basket after they took everything off the store shelf. I’m not big and intimidating, but my normal resting face generally spells out FU to most people (according to my few friends, I look permanently pissed off).
However, my wife and I normally keep enough basic items that when a hurricane is in the Gulf, we don’t need to make any last minute trip to HEB. Except for beer. Seems like every time I stock up, the beer starts disappearing faster. My wife says I drank it all, but I certainly don’t remember that.
I’m good for a couple months, which I think is only prudent. I’ve got a fire extinguisher, smoke detectors and fire insurance, not because I expect to need them, but because needing them and not having them would be a problem. I’ve got the room, I can afford it, why not? This might be heresy, but I don’t NEED another gun. I’d rather balance my precautions against any potential problems.
Having done all this, I’ll probably be struck dead by a meteorite.
To properly furnish nutrition to their family during this phase of this Economic Lock-Down, Mister Tarry could rent or purchase a shipping container for their property.
A forty-foot Conex can hold enough food for a couple years.
(We have two plus a forty-foot trailer.)
Aiming a BB gun at a thief might deter a civilized scoundrel.
What could be the outcome facing several muzzies [gifted] with machetes?
Here is a clue:
* Mister Tarry is removed from the xmez newsletter, the missus and their children are ‘recruited’.
I don’t think Emma is “selfish” for stockpiling food and arming herself to the extent that she’s legally allowed to do so in Old Blighty.
I DO, however, think she’s foolish, vain, shallow and not too bright for posting this on her social media and/or allowing the press to make this into a story, particularly WRT her posing with her faux firearm.
If I could give any young person life advice, especially in these days of rampant social media, it would be this: Never miss an opportunity to STFU. 😉
Amen. And remember, after the SHTF, continue to keep a low profile. Don’t make it obvious that you have food & supplies stored away lest the unready show up at your door, demanding their “fair share” of YOUR property.
And remember what Ferfal, the Argentinian who used to report to the Gunthing how things were in Argentina said. If your shoes are too nice, that make you a target, too. You don’t want to stand out.
Aware enough to prepare, but not aware enough to keep quiet about it. I feel sorry for her – between the State and her neighbors, she’s about to get a crash course in STFU.
The only people outside my household who know what I may or may not have are (a) my parents and (b) my brother. Coincidentally, the only people allowed to show up at my door when shit goes sideways are (a) my parents and (b) my brother.
Buy it cheap, stack it deep.
The three S’s “Secure it, stack it, shut up.”
All these people complaining about her having a reserve sound like the Soviet commoners and Apparatchiks who either didn’t prepare, or who want her food to be able to bend others to their will through hunger.
As Jim said to Basie in “Empire of the Sun” Yes! You taught me that people will do anything for a potato.
I may be mistaken, but I believe in human dignity. If current policy won’t allow us to live in dignity, then we must die with dignity.