# I'm not one of them!!! Am I ??



## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

I do not belong to any groups. I do not hide out in the woods. I do not fear the world will end tomorrow, although I am a Christian and believe it will end and even believe I know how, just not when? I do not think I am a hoarder. I do not have a list of what is in the pantry. I do not think I am a militant. My kids go to school. My wife stays at home. I go to a job. I am not one of those people like they show on the Discovery channel building their armored buses or digging a hole for an underground bunker. I do not have a bug out plan to leave my home when the Zombies attack. I do not even believe there are such things as Zombies (at least not like in the movies).
I think I am pretty normal and lead a pretty normal life. 

But, more and more when I return to work and have conversations with co-workers I get the same thing. "Man you gotta quit reading that survivalist crap". or "Why do you want to have all those animals and mess with that garden"

I Have never been a big sports fan, just always seemed like grown people playing children's games to me? I have never been a big video game player, just never got that interested in computers? I am sorry, but idle talk about big 4x4 trucks or muscle cars, just seem a waste past a certain age, they have no real value to me. A big house with the latest interior amenities hold no interest to me, just seems a waste of money? I think I could be perfectly happy living in a small cabin in the woods with my wife and be perfectly content to never really see any people again. I just do not need to be constantly entertained? (I would want to keep my mules though, they are nice to talk to, they listen.)

Yes, I grow a big garden and yes we freeze and can some food. I raise various livestock and yes, I have mules. I do have some firearms and some ammunition. I do like building things and pride myself on being able to make most anything from steel or wood. I am concerned about the loss of our freedoms. I do read survival type books and magazines. I read a lot of how to stuff, butchering, farming, wilderness survival stuff. I have read all the books available on the mountain men and how they did things. I butcher my own food at home, at least as much as I can. I have high hopes to be buying no more store bought meat at all after this winter. I would like to be able to stay home and work on the farm and do my gunsmithing to make a living and just not be bothered by having to deal with the politics of working in a commercial type job anymore. I do have a goal of being mostly self sufficient and raising my own food. I plan to have a big cellar in my next house and probably no electricity to it, but I will have electricity to my shop closer to the road, so I can ply my trade doing gunsmithing, metal and wood work in order to earn a living. I taught my kids how to shoot when they were young. We go hunting when we can. We are just living a normal life right?

So why, when I ask someone I work with what they would do if there was no grocery store tomorrow, or what would they do if there was no more gas to buy, do they label me as some paranoid prepper?? Why when I tell someone about my newest setup for raising and butchering chickens do they ask if I do any "Normal" stuff? Providing for your family is not normal? Preparing for the unexpected is not normal? Since when did living pay check to paycheck and being preoccupied with the latest video game or sports team become normal for a middle aged man??

I may not be normal in the Hollywood, television scense of the word, but at the same time I do not think I am what the television portrays as a "doomsday prepper" either. I am just a normal guy providing for his family and preparing to take care of them if something should happen. Sorry, maybe some of you have dealt with this already and I am just late to the party, so to speak, but the more they try to make light of the way I choose to live my life, the more I have to wonder if maybe I am one of "Those" people??? But I do not consider myself a Prepper? Not according to what I see on TV anyway? 

I am not insecure in who I am. It does not really bother me what people think. I guess I just do not understand why it seems to bother people so much that I am prepared to take care of my family even with no outside input if needed. They buy car insurance, even thought they do not plan to have a wreck! I do not fault them for that or look at them like they are crazy for preparing for a wreck they hope will never happen??? Is that not the same thing??


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## elkhound (May 30, 2006)

you are what normal use to be.....keep up the good work.


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## BlueRose (Mar 7, 2013)

If you are one of those (people) then so is the rest of us here.


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## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

Yeah, I guess I am one of those too!


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## Ceilismom (Jul 16, 2011)

Ever been to a party where you're the only person not drinking? It's kinda the same thing. You're killing the buzz. And as far as being "one of them"...I don't think it matters if you're actually a doomsday prepper or just a person whose head isn't in the sand, you'll get tarred with the same brush. Be careful what you talk about, and to whom. Might find some of those party animals at your front door some day.


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Why does it bother them? Because You make them look bad.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

It just seems it is more difficult to have a conversation with some of them anymore. We just seem to have less and less common ground of interest. I honestly feel that the older I get, and the more I learn, the more I realize how much I do not know. The same thing goes for being self sufficient. The more I buy, or the more preparations I make, to do things for myself, the more I realize how unprepared I am. 

Last year I read the book "One Second After",. (One of many, I read a lot it seems) No one wants that to happen, especially not me. There will be nothing much good from such a scenario, but it does make you realize at least the possibilities. I personally think the possibility of such a thing is not very high. But there is no harm in at least discussing or giving thought to the possibility or the preparations for such things. Certainly seems more worthy of my time than statistics on how many baseballs some guy hit or how fast some new car goes? I guess rather than seeing what I do as being alarmist or having a doomsday outlook I see it more in a Biblical sense.

1 Correnthians 13.11 says "When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I reasoned as a child, but when I became a man I put away those childish things" 

I just keep thinking, "When are they going to put away their childish thoughts", but they never do?? And yes, I have learned to keep quiet about somethings as well!!

Thanks for listening, maybe it is not such a bad thing to be labeled "One of them" At least I am not one of "THEM"


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## Ohio dreamer (Apr 6, 2006)

Muleman said:


> Thanks for listening, maybe it is not such a bad thing to be labeled "One of them" At least I am not one of "THEM"



Yep, you're not one of THEM, you're one of US!

Most of us here are not the crazy "Doomsday Preppers" you see on TV (I say most because you never know who's "lurking" ). Heck, even the people on that show are not really as crazy as the TV makes them out to be. we are just average people that don't drink the Kool-Aid while wearing Rose Colored Glasses. We believe that we are "big boys and girls" and have a responsibility to take care of ourselves and our families. 

Those drinking the Kool-Aid and wearing the Glasses, just lump everyone that doesn't in the same group. That's easier for them then actually thinking about what we are saying and hearing our words.
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/


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## Ziptie (May 16, 2013)

You need to read the tread I'm a housewife. Not saying you are a chick, but the same mentality applies. Your life style was normal a couple generations ago. Things have changed and some things not necessarily better.:thumb:


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

its like talking politics with the inlaws

you know what the reaction will be so just stop trying to prepare people. 

people still think Im nuts for being ready as I could be for Y2K. So I stopped talking about stuff like that.


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## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

I didn't pay any mind to the Y2K as I never saw a time that bills failed to be sent out :sing: Easy thing is to stay prepared .When I grew up we lived a lot out of the garden .We also ate lots of dried beans and taters :thumb:

Unless I know someone that lives like we do I would rather talk about anything other than my gun collection ammo and food storage .We try to look poor as a church mouse this way folks kind of shy from stopping by . For the record we are poor as a church mouse and embrace it . :sing:

I don't mind talking muscle cars as I have one :thumb: Wife in near 60 and still drives a Mustang and loves it too. :thumb:


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## Trainwrek (Aug 23, 2014)

Well it just seems like you are 'into' the self reliant, survival, homestead thing and you are talking to people who aren't. It's like being into motorcycles and trying to talk to somebody who likes to ride horses, there is just no common ground.

Some people like to watch football, or play golf, some like to see how much of their own food they can grow. You're just talking to the wrong people, they don't 'get it'. We do


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## dizzy (Jun 25, 2013)

Just wait until a Rita or Sandy or some other natural disaster hits in your area. You might find them apologizing.


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## Sawmill Jim (Dec 5, 2008)

dizzy said:


> Just wait until a Rita or Sandy or some other natural disaster hits in your area. You might find them apologizing.


Nope :hammer: A light will go off in their head that you said something about your food supply and come knocking at your door .:facepalm:

Once we were out of electric for 14 days we were thankful that the Gov didn't come to help ,this was during a ice storm . I keep a S10 4x4 just for winter driving we go check on some older folks .


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

Well, thankfully the people I work with do not live by me, as I work away from home. I kinda collect stuff, so I got a bunch of junk around, so to the average person, it looks like we just got a bunch of junk is all. I guess in all honesty that is what we got?? I never have been much of one to want to show off my stuff anyway. When people ask, I always just say we get by ok!!


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Don't bother asking me if you're normal. I don't own a cell phone and have never sent a text, so clearly, I am clueless.


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## Maura (Jun 6, 2004)

Hey, Muleman, you&#8217;re okay with me.


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## handymama (Aug 22, 2014)

Sounds normal as can be to me.


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

I've decided there a two main reasons people scoff at others who want to live as self sufficient as possible.

One, they don't like thinking about change, especially negative change. Their lives are comfortable now, and thought of any possible disruption just won't be considered. Look up the term "normalcy bias". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcy_bias

Two, they're lazy. If they are quietly concerned about current events, or understand even obliquely the inevitability of our financial system, they'd rather go into denial than do what's necessary to prepare.

In either case, your coworkers sound like the last people you should discuss your interests with. Like has been said before, your driveway might just be full of them if things go south.

By the way, One Second After is fiction based on fact. Several countries, including our own, have developed just exactly such weapons. The book's premise isn't beyond belief.


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## Guest (Oct 2, 2014)

I always counter that I am NOT a "Prepper," but I am a PLANNER.

I planned where to take my kids and house dogs when the wild fire came up to the back of our subdivision. Luckily!
I planned how to take care of my kids when the power went out during those years they went out often. Luckily!
And now I plan on what to do and how to do it for DH, the dogs, and me... And where to meet my adult, away children.


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## Dixie Bee Acres (Jul 22, 2013)

Well, if they are calling you crazy, they might as well lock me up too.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

Well, Thanks everybody for your comments and support. Just wait till I go back and tell them all my prepper friends told me we are not the crazy ones, they are. That will show them, and maybe get them to come around to my way of thinking.
Thanks, Guys

Come to think of it. I did see a Zombie movie once where the one guy told the other one just to walk around and act like the Zombies, then they would think you were one of them and you would be safe from attack. Maybe good advice in this situation? Blend in with the Sheeple as much as possible!!


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## Guest (Oct 2, 2014)

Muleman said:


> Well, Thanks everybody for your comments and support. Just wait till I go back and tell them all my prepper friends told me we are not the crazy ones, they are. That will show them, and maybe get them to come around to my way of thinking.
> Thanks, Guys
> 
> Come to think of it. I did see a Zombie movie once where the one guy told the other one just to walk around and act like the Zombies, then they would think you were one of them and you would be safe from attack. Maybe good advice in this situation? Blend in with the Sheeple as much as possible!!



Actually, staying quiet is one of the best ways to keep yourself safe.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

What you said in the original and subsequent posts, is exactly what this forum is about (overall).

I know I was laughed at at work for having more than one little flashlight in my desks. Until the power goes out, and the emergency lights were not yet installed. Everyone went to the one window in the front of the building, except me. And when they had to go to the bathroom, guess who they came to for a flashlight.
(you're just doing that in a larger scale, and a larger scale may come for help if they know you have what they need).


Being aware, and being able to take care of yourself as things happen makes people nervous as it makes them realize there are bad times in just a regular day.

And if you haven't read them. Try the Tom Sherry "Deep Winter" series.


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## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

Angie I am reading that series now. I always carry a small flashlight & my pocket knife with me at all times. I have been thankful for more that more than once.

I have people that think I am nuts for the amount of food I keep on hand. I am pretty sure they will come here & want some of it if the SHTF.


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## Guest (Oct 2, 2014)

At work, my toolbag always had a variety of food and nuts in it. It is amazing how many people found themselves in need of a munchie and always made a bee-line to me! During the 10-hour day summers, my work van had a case of bottled water, and it was a frequent meeting place!

They teased me about my work day planning, but thanked me when they needed the supplies.

Same thing will happen to our homes, should folks know of our stock!


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

I remember when Y2K rolled around. My father-in-law drinks coffee with a bunch of old men at a restaurant in town. One man who was worried about it was preparing, He got 55 gallon drums and filled them with all sorts of things,mostly food, beans, rice, water etc. Every morning he would give a report of what he had done the day before. Every morning he would ask the others what they were doing to prepare, which they mostly did not reply. Not sure if they were not preparing at all, or just keeping quiet. Finally he ask one man directly what he was going to do if when Y2K rolled around there was no food in the stores. The man replied " I have plenty of ammunition, and I know where all the food is!!". He stopped giving daily reports from then on. 

Now my father-in-law said it was all done in a joking manor, but the truth is desperate people will do desperate things. For me this really drove home the fact that secrecy in some cases can in fact equal security.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

Muleman, that's the first lesson of being truly prepared. A lot of not telling exactly what you have put back. Even here.

And most people here never say exactly how much they have etc. Many can show this year's garden goods, but never mention what is left from last year to use first, etc.

And Doomsday Preppers is a joke and I'm pretty sure the cutting room floor has the most sane portions of the filming.


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## unregistered29228 (Jan 9, 2008)

I don't say a peep to local neighbors and friends about anything other than canning the garden produce. I'm sure some people suspect, but we live in an area where lots of people are self sufficient (hunting, gardens) and none of us mentions whether we have preps.


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## TnAndy (Sep 15, 2005)

Ozarks Tom said:


> I've decided there a two main reasons people scoff at others who want to live as self sufficient as possible.
> 
> One, they don't like thinking about change, especially negative change. Their lives are comfortable now, and thought of any possible disruption just won't be considered. Look up the term "normalcy bias". http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normalcy_bias
> 
> *Two, they're lazy. * If they are quietly concerned about current events, or understand even obliquely the inevitability of our financial system, they'd rather go into denial than do what's necessary to prepare.



That second one is a BIG reason I've found. Got a neighbor that way. Talks like he is sure the world is going to come to the end, and thinks he is the world's greatest prepper. Certified graduate of YouTube University.

Got a whole storeroom full of food, yet is slowly starving his cows to death on a couple acres (7 cows) of scrub pasture, has never planted the first garden, canned the first bean ("you know how cheap a #10 can of beans is at Sams ?.....and how many I'd have to raise to feed my family (of 8) ? " ), waits until about November to even begin cutting any firewood (dead green of course), etc. Weeks and weeks go by, and you never see him out doing anything on the place.

I thought he was gonna be a real handy neighbor before he moved in....real talker. Turns out, it was all talk. Mile wide lazy streak in him, and he's soft as the Pillsberry Dough Boy. If things ever do go south, he (and family) are going to be a huge liability rather than asset.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

When the Arkansas Razorbacks football game is cancelled and the beer stores are empty, and perhaps the grid is gone --- because of some very nasty situation your coworkers empty life will have ended.

But you can just -inwardly- smile to your self and keep on living doing your thing---and enjoying that plate of beans you put up. 

So perhaps your learning curve needs to include learning how to redirect those conversations so they don't annoy your built in good common sense.....

And hope and pray those idiots don't come running to you when the bottom does fall out....


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## Ozarks Tom (May 27, 2011)

AngieM2 said:


> Muleman, that's the first lesson of being truly prepared. A lot of not telling exactly what you have put back. Even here.
> 
> And most people here never say exactly how much they have etc. Many can show this year's garden goods, but never mention what is left from last year to use first, etc.
> 
> And Doomsday Preppers is a joke and I'm pretty sure the cutting room floor has the most sane portions of the filming.


I know a guy who was featured on Doomsday Preppers, and you're spot on right. His show was about aquaponics, but the producers pushed the notion he was desperate about it. In fact, he's a very all around prepper from hunting/canning/meal storage to ham radio. Very calm and sensible guy. The producers even talked him into eating a worm, and of course he had dysentery for 10 days after.


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## sdnapier (Aug 13, 2010)

Ozarks Tom said:


> I know a guy who was featured on Doomsday Preppers, and you're spot on right. His show was about aquaponics, but the producers pushed the notion he was desperate about it. In fact, he's a very all around prepper from hunting/canning/meal storage to ham radio. Very calm and sensible guy. The producers even talked him into eating a worm, and of course he had dysentery for 10 days after.


I've read about some others who were featured on DP. They also complained that they were made to look a little nutty. Frankly, I think they are in that they allowed themselves to be seen on the show. OP Sec, OP Sec, OP Sec


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

IDK, I guess I just do not see what I do as being anything special or extraordinary. I am only doing what most of my family did for years. My Grandfather hunted (alot) when I would stay with them every morning my grandmother made breakfast around 5:30. I would go with my grandfather and he would milk the cow every morning. My grandmother made biscuits every morning, cornbread for lunch or supper. The only time you ate sliced bread at their house was if she made you and sandwich to take hunting. They grew a garden and green beans was pretty much a staple item. They had a wood stove in the living room and the rest of the house was unheated, except the bathroom which had a little gas heater that was turned on to take a bath. I remember many summer nights laying in bed with the open window and the attic fan going Whoop Whoop Whoop, while you listed to a rain storm out the window and you could see clear across the field every time the lightening would strike. I never considered it an extraordinary life or Different, even when we moved to the city to follow my dad's job. It was just living. I would visit many other relatives houses and it was all basically the same. They were not preppers, no one had even thought up the word back then, they were just people, living a life. 

Maybe everyone has not had those same experiences and that is why they do not understand or why it seems so different to them? I will be honest, I was sucked into the modern world just as much as anyone. Central Heat and air, living in a closed up house 24/7. Shopping for everything at the grocery store, eating at the fast food places out of convenience, more than necessity. I do not think I ever shunned the old ways, I certainly never forgot them. I guess the new stuff just holds a certain appeal when you are young? The older I get the more I find myself longing for the simpler pleasures that a self sustaining life can bring. Working in the garden in the cool of the evening, when the heat of the day has passed. Standing in the pasture as the sun goes down watching your chickens return to their roost and your pigs lumber around searching for that missed morsel of food or that tender spot of grass. Watching the piglets run and play, not a care in the world. Having your mule walk up beside you and look off in the direction you are almost as if to say " What are you looking at??". Special times, maybe so, but to me, it just seems like a normal life like any other. Not short term happiness that modern life provides, but long term satisfaction and stability that only a self sustainable life can provide. I guess you either have that understanding or you don't.


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## farmerDale (Jan 8, 2011)

Yeah, I am with you. I am from farm country. I farm. Yet I have very little in common with my neighboring farms. Most are set up now, growing only grain, where we all used to have hens, cattle, turkeys, pigs, large gardens. 

I find it difficult to find common ground with most. They are mostly after the dollar. after STUFF. I do not know anyone around me who thinks like we do, and it gets lonely, and you often wonder if YOU are the crazy one.

I joined this site so that I had company that I can not find locally.

Even in farm country, where we all farm several thousand acres, and ALL have the potential to grow our own food easily because of unlimited land potential, hardly anyone does anymore. We have all this land. Yet so much sits idle. The woodlands, the creek bottoms, the flood meadows. The woodlands used to be logged, hunted in, the creek bottoms were fenced, the meadows were hayed. Now the woodlands are pushed over, the creeks are farmed through, the meadows drained. Often, some areas that could support a LOT of stock, are simply left idle, because no one has animals hardly anymore.

Why? The art is dying. Hens that take 5 minutes a day to care for is far too much time wasted. Pigs that can eat waste grain, use wooded areas that are non farmable, stink. Gardens have weeds and take too much work.

Something happened this last generation. Raising ones own food was not a priority. The 20 somethings of today who care enough to do so are almost non-existent. They want an easy life. They want low labor. They want cash. So they avoid stinky animals. They buy all their food. They want a lifestyle like the urbanites.

YET THEY LIVE IN THE WILDEST LAND ON EARTH! LAND THAT COULD PROVIDE THEM ALMOST ALL THEY NEED. THESE PEOPLE ARE FARMERS, YET THEY DO NOT RAISE THEIR OWN FOOD!

Go figure. I miss the 50's mindset. And I was born in the 70's. Go figure...

I tip my hat to my parents, for having milk cows, sheep, turkeys, pigs, chickens, gardens, a gathering mindset: for teaching me to hunt. To enjoy the little rewards. 

I feel sorry for the general population of poor souls who are missing out. The worst thing is, they are farmers, they should know better. They deserve better. They are missing out, big time.


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## Dixie Bee Acres (Jul 22, 2013)

Here it started a generation back. When my wife and i started learning to can, grow gardens, raise animals, etc, we told people we were trying to teach ourselves the things our grandparents knew, but our parents forgot.
My MIL wouldn't lower herself to a level low enough to plant a garden, or make jelly, or bread. 
My dad doesn't see the point.

My grandparents and my wifes grandparents all canned home grown food, grandmothers baked, grandfathers hunted, and tended to a few animals as well as work 40 hours for someone else.

People today have too much to do. Places to be, people to meet, etc.

Not me, I like the slower, less demanding pace.


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## AngieM2 (May 10, 2002)

A think front porches go along with this. And rope/board swings on a tree limb for the children to play on. Dogs in the yard, etc.


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## bigjon (Oct 2, 2013)

muleman,ur among friends.WELCOME!


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

And the temptation to drive up to a window and buy a "hamburger" made from nasty stuff....


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## Janis R (Jun 27, 2013)

I am one of them, I proudly say!
I am a Christian, American, 2nd amendment supporter, Constitutional Patriot, conservative, heterosexual, gun-toting prepper.
I don't tell my neighbors what I do and have.
I surround myself with like minded people and belong to some groups of preppers and Oath Keepers, I support what I believe.
I personally know some people who have been on DP and they are ordinary people not crazy like the show wants to portray. The reason they have been on b/c they want to spread the word on prepping.


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## Pack Rat (Nov 9, 2006)

I picked up a used paperback the other day by Joel Salatin, entitled "Folks, this ain't normal", that lays out the same story: what the mass of people do today to keep themselves in food and fiber and a roof over their heads, is a LONG, *LONG* way from what has been normal (socially, economically, survivally necessary) since **** erectus started gathering nuts for winter, probably taking a hint from the squirrels. As for discussing any of the past normal with those brainwashed with a new normal, it's like trying to teach a pig to sing: it wastes your time, and annoys the pig. Annoy the pig enough, and he'll turn and bite you. If someone says "hey, saw the doomsday prepper show and thought of you", just say "nah, those guys are nuts - I don't do anything like that. I just don't like shopping every other day, so I only go once a week." That is still within the realm of their normal. For my own personal stockpile, I like what I saw someone else posted here a long time ago and figured it was good advice. "I have only 6 cans of sardines and a box of crackers in my pantry." Well, I actually did have that, but I ate the crackers last week, and had a can of sardines for an afternoon snack when I didn't have time for a good lunch. So anyone coming to my place for a meal will have to bring their own food, and a saw to cut their own wood to cook it with.


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## Muleman (Nov 8, 2013)

Thanks everyone for your input on this. I started to make another post, but it kinda ran into another subject I feel kinda strongly about, so rather than take this thread off in a different direction, I will make a new thread for my "Deep Thoughts" haha. 
I had never posted in this forum until the other day (I actually never visited this forum much until the other day?) Heck, I spent the first several months here never even getting out of the pig forum. I was a member of another forum for a long time and still am, though not really active there now much, as it has changed a lot from what it once was. I tried many different forums before coming here to HT and to be honest, never really got the sense of belonging or community or shared interest, as I had before. I am happy to say I have found that here. Even though there are many members here there is a sense of shared interest and respect for each others points of view, a civility that is missing in many forums. I know much of this can be attributed to good moderators who spend time here and participate.
Thanks to you all.


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## TripleD (Feb 12, 2011)

Muleman said:


> Thanks everyone for your input on this. I started to make another post, but it kinda ran into another subject I feel kinda strongly about, so rather than take this thread off in a different direction, I will make a new thread for my "Deep Thoughts" haha.
> I had never posted in this forum until the other day (I actually never visited this forum much until the other day?) Heck, I spent the first several months here never even getting out of the pig forum. I was a member of another forum for a long time and still am, though not really active there now much, as it has changed a lot from what it once was. I tried many different forums before coming here to HT and to be honest, never really got the sense of belonging or community or shared interest, as I had before. I am happy to say I have found that here. Even though there are many members here there is a sense of shared interest and respect for each others points of view, a civility that is missing in many forums. I know much of this can be attributed to good moderators who spend time here and participate.
> Thanks to you all.


 Welcome to our home in the basement of the forums ! Its a real good crowd....


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## Dixie Bee Acres (Jul 22, 2013)

AngieM2 said:


> A think front porches go along with this. And rope/board swings on a tree limb for the children to play on. Dogs in the yard, etc.


I agree 100%, but would also add, kids need to slow down too. Most kids today have never felt grass on their bare feet, they don't know how to eat a real watermelon on spit the seeds, and most are really missing out by never having the opportunity to spread some home made apple butter on the heel of a hot loaf of bread right out of the oven.

Now that is living, and that is an experience you can't get from facebook or an iPad.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

For some of us "older" timers I/we see nothing but big problems for this generation that has their face stuck into/onto the electronic gadgets of today.....

Wish I had neighbors with the attitude of Muleman......


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## 7thswan (Nov 18, 2008)

Dixie Bee Acres said:


> I agree 100%, but would also add, kids need to slow down too. Most kids today have never felt grass on their bare feet, they don't know how to eat a real watermelon on spit the seeds, and most are really missing out by never having the opportunity to spread some home made apple butter on the heel of a hot loaf of bread right out of the oven.
> 
> Now that is living, and that is an experience you can't get from facebook or an iPad.


Clothslines too, a biggie for photographers. They say "Country" in an image.


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## TripleD (Feb 12, 2011)

7thswan said:


> Clothslines too, a biggie for photographers. They say "Country" in an image.


 Yep clotheslines are great for chicken killing days too.......


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## terri9630 (Mar 12, 2012)

TripleD said:


> Yep clotheslines are great for chicken killing days too.......


We use the peach tree for that. It's a bit sturdier for the 10 pounders after the fair.


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## Jim-mi (May 15, 2002)

Attitude of today . . . . . Anybody who uses a clothes line today is a hick living in the dark ages........

guess I are one tooo


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## Wendy (May 10, 2002)

Up until last year I hung my chickens on the clothesline posts to butcher. I since put up a new line, took the old posts & built a place just for butchering.


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## triana1326 (Feb 13, 2006)

Dixie Bee Acres said:


> I agree 100%, but would also add, kids need to slow down too. Most kids today have never felt grass on their bare feet, they don't know how to eat a real watermelon on spit the seeds, and most are really missing out by never having the opportunity to spread some home made apple butter on the heel of a hot loaf of bread right out of the oven.
> 
> Now that is living, and that is an experience you can't get from facebook or an iPad.


I agree with this 100%â¦thankfully, my kids have experienced ALL of these things and far more. My kids lead the way for the other neighborhood kids to get out and enjoy the outdoors. Heck - my 5 year old daughter was the one teaching the rest of the "gang" how to catch and release tadpoles during our marsh's spring flood and showing them where to find worms for fishing in our backyard. I call her the "Tadpole Hunter"!


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## Fennick (Apr 16, 2013)

Muleman said:


> Well, Thanks everybody for your comments and support. *Just wait till I go back and tell them all my prepper friends told me we are not the crazy ones, they are. That will show them, and maybe get them to come around to my way of thinking.*
> Thanks, Guys
> 
> Come to think of it. I did see a Zombie movie once where the one guy told the other one just to walk around and act like the *Zombies*, then they would think you were one of them and you would be safe from attack. Maybe good advice in this situation? Blend in with the *Sheeple* as much as possible!!


Regarding the bolded part in first paragraph - for your sake I hope you will never, ever do that. It's a sure fire way to cause resentment and grudges towards you because they'll feel like you're a know-it-all trying to rub their noses into their own ignorance and lack of preparedness and make them look small. Then if the SHTF your colleagues at work will remember the nose-rubbing, they'll remember their resentments and they'll remember that you have all the food and equipment that they don't have but need, and you and your family will be considered fair game to rob or worse.

I agree with your second paragraph and that it was good advice. Blend in with your society but DO NOT THINK OF THEM OR REFER TO THEM AS ZOMBIES OR SHEEPLE because it's very rude and demeaning under any circumstances and it will show up in your attitude and demeanour when you're socializing. It's impossible to hide a sense of superiority towards people you think of as being inferior, so even just thinking that way will get picked up on and will cause suspicion, hostility and resentment. 

Keep quiet about your preps and your lifestyle and if questioned about it then just pass it off as your family's little _"hobby farm"_ and that it's no big deal. 

Don't discuss or try to persuade other people about your preparedness beliefs or try to convince them they should be doing the same as you. If you do those things then that's proselytizing and it will make you no different from somebody who is preaching and trying to make converts to a fanatical religious cult and it will make people suspicious and hostile or frightened of you. Don't give people cause to want to get rid of you from their work and social circles or to want to burn you out.


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## bjgarlich (Nov 20, 2012)

DH and I were talking about this today....we can't imagine returning to our suburban life or working in an office anymore. Most of our friends and relatives think we are eccentric but at the same time they ask for advice and some of them are really reconsidering how they live. We like to say that we are just trying to master some of the skills that our grandparents had - my parents had some of those skills but to a lesser degree (canning, gardening, herbal medicine, etc.).

What Muleman describes seems normal to us, and would have seemed normal to our grandparents!!! Both of our kids (23 and 25 years old) are looking for a different kind of life than the expected career and rat race - I am grateful for that.


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I'm another who grew up on a small farm, helped with the milking and getting milk ready for sale (glass gallon jars) to a few neighbors, helped with the gardening and the harvesting of said garden, helped with butchering and processing the year's beef, had a stay at home mom and dad who worked an off farm job and worked the farm, too. We put up hay loose for years before my dad and uncle finally bought a baler, so I had the pleasure of swinging in the barn and landing in that big hay mow. Had a swing on a rope from the limb of a big cherry tree, too. Spent hours entertaining myself on 50 acres with my best friend (dog), and rode a cow until I finally got a horse in my teens. It was a great life, and I've tried to give at least a part of that experience to my kids, and now my grandkids.

Filling the pantry and freezer was just what you did each year, so you could afford to eat all winter. In the spring you planted, in the summer you weeded and bit by bit you harvested, and in the fall, you canned fruit, tomatoes, and more. The food was better than anything in a grocery store, and mighty handy when a snowstorm hit.

We heated with a double barrel wood stove in the basement. The basement was toasty, the main floor was comfortable, and the upstairs bedrooms had frost flowers on the insides of the windows! Good thing we had lots of quilts on the beds, made and tied by my mom, flannel granny gowns, also sewn by my mom, and knitted slippers, made by, yup, my mom. 

I do call myself a prepper, but only because I don't like being called a survivalist! I was a prepper when prepping wasn't cool, lol.


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## handymama (Aug 22, 2014)

Your childhood sounds like heaven manygoatsnmore


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## manygoatsnmore (Feb 12, 2005)

I didn't always think so then, but yeah, it was pretty good!


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