so mad that our takeaway from the mask thing hasn’t been “wait, so we could have been getting like 80% fewer colds and viruses this entire time?”
We really just accepted that “yeah, every several months we just feel like shit and do nothing but lay in bed for a week while so much snot pours out of our face holes that we have to keep 27 wads of tissue within arm’s reach” even though the solution was not only simple and easy but also offered infinite possibilities for fashionable accessorizing. I hate it here
i’m never going to stop wearing a mask in the winter time because 1) colds and flu, obviously 2) my lips don’t get chapped and bleed in the winter anymore. This is revolutionary. 3) it’s actually just common sense to wear a badass goth wolf skull mask in your day to day life??
now I can wear whatever clothes I want and people will still know I’m cool and goth
GUESS WE’RE DOING THIS EARLY THIS YEAR. (Though, honestly, we never really stopped, did we?)
So. Let’s talk evacuation bags. This is specifically in relation to wildfires, but it can translate easily to other disasters.
A great resource is the Ready for Wildfire website. But I want to expand on their list just a little bit.
For your “grab and go we need to run in the next three minutes” bag you should have:
Face masks of some sort.
Snacks that you can just open and eat. More food if you have specific allergies and such that will make it difficult to eat at a shelter. At least a couple bottles of water. (Water is probably easier to just keep in your vehicle, if you have one, due to weight.)
A PAPER map marked with multiple evacuation routes. (Drive them ahead of time to get a feel for them.) Your phone could die or lose signal at any time. You need paper, and you need to know how to read it.
Prescriptions and other medications. Things like ibuprophen, tums, etc.. Some other general first aid supplies like bandaids and wound ointments are good to have as well. I also tossed one of my free C*VID tests in there this year.
Change of clothing. Try and have two if you can, one set of day clothes and one set of comfy night clothes. Plus several days worth of socks and underwear.
Extra glasses or contacts if you wear them.
An emergency creditcard and/or some cash.
Phone chargers including wall plugs. Even if cell towers go down/get overwhelmed your phone will still provide a flashlight, music, any documents you have saved on it, etc.
A jacket. Light or heavy, depending on the season at hand. Gloves and a hat if the current season is cold.
A battery powered radio with extra batteries or a crank/solar radio.
Pads/tampons if needed. Honestly, bring some even you personally don’t need them in case anyone else does.
Shampoo, conditioner, soap.
Copies of important documents.
Pet supplies including: Medications. Carriers. Leashes/harnesses. A few baggies and/or cans of food. A travel litterbox and a couple baggies of litter. Treats. A toy or two. Anti-stress sprays. Bowls.
A deck of cards. This isn’t really REQUIRED, but it is small and easy to tuck in so you can have something to help pass the time.
You need to have a version of all these things that is JUST for your emergency kit. It can’t be something you take back out to use, it all needs to just live in the kit. I keep all my human stuff in a big backpack, and all the pet stuff (minus the carriers) is in a little backpack. The backpacks and carriers all live in my coat closet right next to my front door.
This is the stuff you grab when you have no time. If you DO have a little time, then you can grab other things like family photos, computers, small valuables, etc.. But your life is NOT worth those things. One of the two people who died in the Marshall Fire died because he stayed behind to try and rescue his family history documents. Know what you’re going to grab, who is going to grab what if there’s more than you in your household, and what the evacuation plan is.
From my personal experience, the Twitter accounts for your local fire departments and county emergency services tend to have the most up-to-date information during an active disaster. Stay safe.
Also, if you don’t have a vehicle and/or are disabled in a way that will require help evacuating, talk to your neighbors. Just a simple “hey, it’s fire season, and I don’t have a car, if something happens can I hitch a ride to the shelter with you?” and exchange numbers. Do it with a couple neighbors in case someone isn’t home. If you do end up trapped, just call 911. They will send someone to get you.
Just want to add some things based on the notes:
No matter where you live, you need one. Look at the Marshall Fire. Look at Grenfell Tower. Look at Paradise. Look at the Australian fires. You never know when or where a fire may occur, nor how bad it may get.
This is not meant as a full prep bag. This is meant as a grab and run bag. You can put more into it, but make sure you keep it LIGHT. You need to be able to literally run with this thing.
The best day to make this bag is yesterday.
If you forget something, or if things are so bad you can’t even grab your bag, it is okay. If there is one thing that happens every single fire without fail it is that people will help one another. People will give you food. People will give you shelter. People will help you charge your phone. People will tell you where to go. Just get yourself and your loved ones out, that’s what matters most.
I think a lot about how we as a culture have turned “forever” into the only acceptable definition of success.
Like… if you open a coffee shop and run it for a while and it makes you happy but then stuff gets too expensive and stressful and you want to do something else so you close it, it’s a “failed” business. If you write a book or two, then decide that you don’t actually want to keep doing that, you’re a “failed” writer. If you marry someone, and that marriage is good for a while, and then stops working and you get divorced, it’s a “failed” marriage.
The only acceptable “win condition” is “you keep doing that thing forever”. A friendship that lasts for a few years but then its time is done and you move on is considered less valuable or not a “real” friendship. A hobby that you do for a while and then are done with is a “phase” - or, alternatively, a “pity” that you don’t do that thing any more. A fandom is “dying” because people have had a lot of fun with it but are now moving on to other things.
I just think that something can be good, and also end, and that thing was still good. And it’s okay to be sad that it ended, too. But the idea that anything that ends is automatically less than this hypothetical eternal state of success… I don’t think that’s doing us any good at all.
a freshly cooked meal is best but fast food or a plain cracker is better than nothing. a full skincare routine is great but a splash of water and moisturiser is better than nothing. 8 hours sleep is ideal but 4 or 2 is better than nothing. cleaning the entire room is fantastic but just wiping the mirror or throwing clothes in a basket is better than nothing. a shower is great but a face and arm wash or a wipe is better than nothing. changing your bedding once a week is best but swapping just the pillows or washing only once a month is better than nothing. a 5k run is fabulous but a walk around the block or touching your toes in bed is better than nothing. being your “best self” and thriving is amazing but if you are trying and conserving the energy you have and taking baby steps every day and surviving then that is wonderful too.
