When neighbors surprise you...

[Trihonda]

There have been several threads on keeping your preps secret from your neighbors, or HOW to reach out to neighbors to develop a mutual assistance group, etc... Here's a recent neighbor interaction I had to share... Purely for entertainment value.

Background, I've got a bunch of awesome neighbors, some of which are openly leftist or koolaid drinking liberals. I don't normally get too political on social media, because we live in a fairly liberal area. Our neighborhood leans more conservative, but in general, it's always a good tactic to keep a low profile on the political front in our area (at least, that's been my experience). Though I've tried over the years to keep a low profile, this past year I could not sit idly by while I saw our country falling to leftists (and socialism). I made several social media posts denouncing the corrupt media, and supporting gun rights, etc.. I have one neighbor (across the street), who I like and am friendly with, but she IS that liberal loonie that insists on rebutting every point I make on social media. She chimes in and signals her virtues for all to see, and showcases how much smarter she is than me. Stuff she'd never say in person. We'll call her Monica. That's the background...

A couple nights ago, I was in our backyard and speaking to our next door neighbors. These folks have been neighbors for 10+ years, and are very mild mannered. stay at home mom, husband works some sales job, and a couple cute kids. We've always been very friendly with these neighbors, but never overly social (they don't drink - devoutly religious, and the hubby has some meat allergy, which makes our weekend meaty BBQ's kinda weird for them). They've tended to stay to themselves. The wife, who is from Alabama (with as southern an accent as you can imagine) is petite and quiet. We'll call these guys Angelina and Brad (for anonymity sake).

B&A were chatting about life, and Angelina gets real close to me and whispers "wow, Monica sure has a loud mouth" referring to Monica's propensity to chime in every time I post about patriotic stuff over the years. Then Angelina says, "I'm sure she's one of them socialists".. lol Now, I'm dying inside. Thinking, 'where the hell did all this come from'... Angelina then references a recent FB discussion I posted in, denouncing a couple of local election candidates who were openly promoting socialism and critical race theory. I didn't know about these candidates prior to this FB thread, but Angelina quickly informs me that the School Board and Town Council have been infiltrated by commies lately... She thanked me for speaking up, and said that people are starting to wake up. In her sweetest southern voice, she said "Us conservatives usually live and let live. We don't go around pushing our views on others, and we're usually pretty quiet, but there's a lot of momma bears who are waking up and starting to roar... Don't mess with the momma bears"... lol. Then she says "the only way for evil to triumph is for good people to keep quiet". I honestly got choked up at this, and was never so proud of my neighbors than at this moment... Who knew...

Now, onto the funny part:

She explains that they've been stocking up on food for a couple years, and really ramped up things during the unrest of 2020. Angelina explained that if it "gets crazy", they'd have extra food they could share with our family... I politely inquired how much food they had stocked ("enough" means different things to different people), and they both sheepishly ignored the question and said, "well, you've got the guns (you can protect us), so we have food". I didn't share anything about my preps, only to tell them I promised I wouldn't need to come knocking on their door, and maybe they could share with Monica across the street... they both laughed...

 

[Illini Warrior]

got to be careful - most likely that neighbor was for real and legit >>> but there's plenty of really intelligent mind bending liberals out playing games with the conservatives they can ID - especially trolling on the various prepper sites ....

got to watch your azz for more than a few reasons divulging any prepper tendencies ....

and - just because someone stocks food/water, med supplies and quacks like a duck - doesn't make them a mallard >> there's liberal minded preppers that just aren't going to survive - take people with them - there's just no way in hell a serious SHTF will be a hand-holding kumbaya singing occasion ...

 

[user 6493]

got to be careful - most likely that neighbor was for real and legit >>> but there's plenty of really intelligent mind bending liberals out playing games with the conservatives they can ID - especially trolling on the various prepper sites ....

got to watch your azz for more than a few reasons divulging any prepper tendencies ....

and - just because someone stocks food/water, med supplies and quacks like a duck - doesn't make them a mallard >> there's liberal minded preppers that just aren't going to survive - take people with them - there's just no way in hell a serious SHTF will be a hand-holding kumbaya singing occasion ...

I know all the neighbors within 3 miles all 15 of them in either direction,,,,,nothing to worry about here

 

[Amish Heart]

Good to have a neighbor like that, TriHonda.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Nearest neighbor is 4 miles away. We get along fine with them. Only see them a few times a year, which is about right. A distant neighbor is a good neighbor.

 

[Jayson]

A distant neighbor is a good neighbor.

We live in a rural area. The closest neighbors are across the dirt road from us. Most of the time those dumb *** hippies are spending their welfare checks and smoking their pot.

 

[Amish Heart]

We are rural, too. Half our neighbors are Amish, the other are Mennonite. Except for the guy next to us. They are holy rollers, but the husband is nice. The wife stays to herself.

 

[user 6493]

Nearest neighbor is 4 miles away. We get along fine with them. Only see them a few times a year, which is about right. A distant neighbor is a good neighbor.

the best neighbors wave as they go by

 

[Jayson]

the best neighbors wave as they go by

My mantra for dealing with my neighbors : Don’t fool with me or my property and we’ll get along just fine.

 

[LiveTrap]

I live in town, but the plan is to load the car and the truck in the attached garage with the door closed, and leave in the middle of the night, or whenever appears to be the safest time. Brother lives on the family farm. Neighbors are all nice, but pretty sure they are all living paycheck to paycheck.

 

[Amish Heart]

My nice neighbor just brought over a quart sized baggie full of large marigold seeds. She said to plant them around the border of my garden. I gave her a dozen eggs.

 

[Jayson]

My nice neighbor just brought over a quart sized baggie full of large marigold seeds. She said to plant them around the border of my garden. I gave her a dozen eggs.

I guess the neighborhood critters in my neck of the woods aren’t quite as friendly. We gave 2 different new neighbors welcome-to-the-neighborhood gifts, and we didn’t even get a ‘Thank You’ from them.

 

[GaRp58]

A distant neighbor is a good neighbor.

Almost as good as a "distant relative" also. Just see them, talk a bit and no politics or such...
Great story from Trihonda tho, opens your eyes to your "up to date" observations and what you think you know about your neighbors too.
Live free, Gary

 

[lonewolf]

I live on the very edge of a small rural town, more of a village really, neighbours are all okay but most work away from the area each day, place is like a ghost town just a few oldies wondering around.

 

[MOS0231]

We are pretty rural. Enough to know if you have to call 911, by the time LEO or EMS gets there, whatever the emergency is, is likely over. The local volunteer fight department is pretty good. We get winter storms often enough to know we are on our own, so I have no problem helping out my neighbors if they need it.
Most everyone knows everyone else, even if it is in passing.

I wave to the Amish as they go by, they wave back. Done business with them on more than a few occasions. My one Amish neighbor needed his goat serviced so she could keep giving milk. Made a deal with him: I took his doe in for the winter (fed and water her) to get knocked up by one of my bucks, in trade for lumber. He runs a mill.

If we have too many eggs we will give them away to the neighbors.

When we talk, we talk about the weather, how our gardens are doing (most everyone here has one, nothing to do with prepping, just the way things are done around here), whatever hunting season it is.

 

[Schattentarn]

Long ago I decided my neighbors were not worth saving. Some were leftists, some were just stupid. So I devised a plan for myself for various situations. Sorry but I am not one of those networking preppers who think that survival depends on interacting with other people. Screw them. OK, I will not last 20 years on my own but I won't last 20 years anyway.

 

[GaRp58]

I've only been here for 8 months yet and do not know anybody but my BIL well enough to decide ANYTHING about them...just me and the lady if SHTF or TEOTWAWKI....

 

[Jayson]

Long ago I decided my neighbors were not worth saving. Some were leftists, some were just stupid.

That sounds just like my neighbors. Dumb, pot smoking hippies.

 

[simpleman]

That sounds just like my neighbors. Dumb, pot smoking hippies.

Well Jayson, not sure what you mean by "hippies" because I have long hair, beard and mustache, also known as the Long Haired Country Boy! In fact, I was going to put this in a post I am going to make later, My Wife says I Love my Hair more than anything! Regardless, your still good people and I hope you feel the same towards me. I gave up smoking pot about 35 years ago, don't drink nor smoke anything else. I am Strongly Conservative, spent some time in the Corps and then some.
As for my neighbors, the ones that were "prepping" have moved on and the rest can fend for themselves if the SHTF!
Our Family that is close to us, Brother, Daughter and Family and Granddaughter and Husband to be in June, Prep and we have plans on what to do when whatever hits!

 

[Jayson]

Well Jayson, not sure what you mean by "hippies" because I have long hair, beard and mustache, also known as the Long Haired Country Boy!

No worries. My hippie neighbors are just clueless, witless and stoned out of their minds.

 

[Schattentarn]

Most prepper advice is to reach out and network, join a support group or militia, otherwise you will just die in a short period of time. I wish there were more advice/information/stories for those of us who will just go it alone with our families (maybe extended families).

 

[Amish Heart]

If you have a family group, I wouldn't consider that going it alone. Having a family group can be a real good group. That's the kind of group I have.

 

[lonewolf]

the only group you can trust IS a family group, anyone else is suspect.
I do not agree with the sentiment that being alone means a fast death sentence, that depends on the person.

 

[Trihonda]

the only group you can trust IS a family group, anyone else is suspect.
I do not agree with the sentiment that being alone means a fast death sentence, that depends on the person.

i think this also depends on the SHTF scenario. I think in certain circumstance, security will be paramount. If you live on some remote mountain top, where you’re not likely to see another soul for decades, I’d consider that decent security. If there’s a chance you’ll run into people at some point, going lone wolf could be difficult.

 

[MOS0231]

i think this also depends on the SHTF scenario. I think in certain circumstance, security will be paramount. If you live on some remote mountain top, where you’re not likely to see another soul for decades, I’d consider that decent security. If there’s a chance you’ll run into people at some point, going lone wolf could be difficult.

Be sure to have a volley ball to talk to.

I agree with the difficulty of the lone wolf idea in some or more than a few regards.

 

[LiveTrap]

I think most of us, if not all of us would be the first to help our neighbors and share all we had if we knew that this was just a local weather, fire, or some other temporary disaster. Long term, war, complete electrical grid collapse, or something resembling TEOTWAWKI might be a little different.

 

[Trihonda]

I think most of us, if not all of us would be the first to help our neighbors and share all we had if we knew that this was just a local weather, fire, or some other temporary disaster. Long term, war, complete electrical grid collapse, or something resembling TEOTWAWKI might be a little different.

Yup, I agree.. I'm pretty sure my neighbors are prepping, but at an entirely different scale (and for different scenarios). I got the impression they were more in the "grocery stores are temporarily out of stock for a week or two" mindset. I don't get the feeling they're ready for the apocalypse (or zombies). I think they believe they have enough food, and to them, "enough" is probably a month or so (not entirely sure). That's woefully inadequate. That said, due to the hubby's meat allergy, they're fairly well versed in homestead gardening, and have been growing their own food (in identical soil to ours) for years. I don't think they're ready for all that TEOTWAWKI but I do think they'd have some value with their knowledge in growing crap. And I think if it was SHTF, they could ramp up their gardening to a much larger scale. I believe they have the skills based on prior conversations, but I don't think that's a bridge I need to cross until necessary.

Be sure to have a volley ball to talk to.

This had me rolling... "WILSON!!!!"

 

[Schattentarn]

I think if you are going to survive a SHTF, you have to be somewhat isolated. In my mind the biggest problem in survival (once you have food, water, shelter, energy and communications) is the hoards of unprepared people streaming out of big cities who what to share your resources with you. Or maybe just take them.

So prepping in the Hollywood Hills is not going to work. At some distance from a big city, it will work, but that distance depends on a bunch of factors.

If you live on a mountain top---and I did for a long time, you don't need others besides your family. With a chain saw, you can cut and fell trees into the road, chop them up into a kind of maze and you have a road block/check point to repel unwanted people.

It sounds to me like there are some people here that could survive for decades with their setups.

 

[GaRp58]

We will all have to deal with the loneliness, deprivation of a common grounds discussions, lack of motivation, little sleep and the need for a sense of security. A terrible part of survival is having to live with yourself and if you do not like what you see in the mirror and you know all your secret fears and have no other persons to "bounce" your fears off of....lots of suicides happen out of loneliness, lack of self-confidence and a need for perspectives for the future...who wants to prepare for a future with a house, garden, fishing boat when you have lost your wife and kids to a bomb, earthquake, volcano, tornado or such catastrophe? The future is bleak. Many wish no children because the world is so "sick" at the moment...
Be as tough as needed, be soft as required, be wise as possible and be dumb enough to survive certain situations from just enough luck. Live free, Gary

 

[Jayson]

I really don't want anything to do with most of my neighbors right now when we still have some semblance of civilization. I sure as Hell won’t be inviting them over for dinner when the SHTF.