**Warning: There is swearing. Lots of it.**
Who would have thought that back in October 2009 that what turned into nearly three years without groceries would have actually been practice for the real shitshow that was to come. Our decision back then to start with the "Year Without Groceries" had its own reasons, particularly the financial crash and a real need to reduce our costs wherever possible. And we succeeded in that goal. We also learned a whole shit ton of self sufficiency skills.
And yet here, in 2020, over 10 years later from the beginning of that "experiment" we're facing a real event that will test those very skills we learned back then in a very real way. And we are using them (for the most part we never actually stopped completely). From raising our own livestock for eggs, meat and milk, to making bread with wild-caught yeasts and growing lots of fresh produce.
When we did our year(s) without groceries we were featured innumerable times on "Prepper" podcasts, radio programs, books and other media. We never considered ourselves preppers because we weren't stockpiling anything other than maybe the errant 50 lb bag of flour because we were purchasing in bulk to save money. People wanted our advice back then because we were doing everything they were thinking they'd be doing when some big global apocalypse would happen.
Well, you know what?
It's finally fucking here and a lot of those people that wanted our advice appear to have been more interested in playing "prepper cosplay" than actually doing what needs to be done. They would rather scream and shout about how being responsible during a worldwide pandemic is destroying their "freedoms" and show up armed to the teeth at statehouses in large, unmasked groups, to demand that no one force them to care about other people.
Guess what?
You fucking failed at prepping. The very first rule in prepping is to SURVIVE the Apocalypse. But you can't fucking survive it if you're out traipsing about in public without a mask on. I mean, sure you *might* live to see another day, but if you end up a "long hauler" there's no end in sight to when you'll feel good enough again to do even the most menial of chores.
You should only be going out for the essentials - meaning food and toiletries. And science has shown that masks, when worn by everyone, work to significantly reduce spread.
Consider this a warning, this Fall things are going to get exponentially worse. We all need to get our shit together if we're going to make it out alive. Fuck! I'm tired of feeling like Cassandra.
Wear your fucking mask.
