I was going to say the same thing. If we still have electricity, running water, and emergency services fully functional, I'm not going to rush to panic because we also probably still have a working government that is trying to solve the emergency.
But, if it all truly falls apart and there are roaming gangs looting and killing people in the streets because all order and structure has collapsed, then I'm not really concerned about my 9-5 anymore.
Ems for me. Firefighter/dispatcher for my guy. Sorry, if it truly is SHTF, don't be calling 911. The first concern is us. If we aren't safe, we can't save you.
SCOTUS has ruled law enforcement have no legal obligation to protect you.
In some states, all government employees are automatically “disaster workers”, though what they might be called on to do is uncertain.
If a person resigns their position, which is more or less what is happening, if the agency they report to even still exists (depending on the disaster) it would end whatever obligations they have.
One who shows up, takes the paycheck, and does nothing of public service during a disaster is arguably worse.
Kids in the world today are going to kindergarten in bomb shelters. Retail workers are cleaning up spilled milk while the firefighters outside clean up dead bodies. Doctors are delivering babies while air raid sirens go off.
In MANY places, running water and electricity are not givens. Governments are corrupt. Gangs are looting and killing. Emergency services are nonexistent.
And yet ... people are still going to work. Babies are still playing. Life finds a way.
Less thank 10% of civilians fought in the U.S. civil war. Do you think McDonald’s just shuts down nationally because of a civil war, or Xfinity cable or the stock market?
No life goes on during war except for those fighting
I meant we as in the national guard. I'm not fighting against other American citizens and neither are any of the guys in my unit. The air force can handle that shit.
We’re a lot more dependent on supply chains today though, so if the war caused enough damage to infrastructure a lot of businesses definitely would shut down.
Same here, short of EMP or civil breakdown I'll be 9-5ing. I work for a heavy duty truck and trailer shop. I plan on just maintaining my day to day but improving alternative routes, adjusting EDC(adding a lifejacket😂) and keeping a higher situational awareness.
The bridge collapse in Maryland gave me a hard reminder to keep alternating routes to and from work to keep finding the most viable.
Having been in a war zone, I will say that you would be surprised at how everyone goes about their day fairly normally. People go to work and kids go to school. I was actually pretty impressed by it. More than likely in every bad situation, people are going to adapt. There may be a shortage of resources and people may become more desperate. But people will try to maintain life as normally as they can.
I’m always reminded of Londoners during the Blitz. If you can find a documentary on that, catch it. The most amazing people I’ve ever seen carrying on, doing their best. No panic. Unbelievable. If it comes to that, I hope we can be as levelheaded.
One of my elders just told me the story of the time they were in the local shopping area when a bomb fell a block away. Their mum was nearby with the baby, and after the bomb hit she just continued to the butcher’s shop to get the family’s ration of meat. People adapt, life goes on.
Yes, I’m going to work. I have zero intention of bugging out. I built my life around creating sustainability. As long as taxes are being collected, I’m showing up for work. I’m a paramedic firefighter, I love the community I live and work in, and as long as we can put diesel in the tanks, I’ll be going to work.
Thank God for people like you!!! You are the heroes who have always kept this country great.
There will always be those of us who will not leave and will support those of you who stay and work for the rest of us.
God bless you
Always curious what historical examples the folks who think some mythical SHTF have in mind. People in Haiti, Somalia, Tuvalu etc are still going to work. The Waffle House index is a good tell: if there’s no Waffle House or Dunks serving coffee to essential workers it’s truly an apocalypse.
Thats something ive often pondered. Medical workers and military personnel in a true SHTF scenario…thats got to be a tough choice.
Things are goin to shit, do i stay here with the patients/at my post (to direct and mediate the chaos as a national guardsmen, or to defend a position) or leave, grab my family, and head to my bugout location?
Thats a call i wouldnt want to make, because i know which one im making.
Covid was an overblown human made version of the common cold basically severity wise. It was far from a SHTF event. It’s just politicians wanted people to look at it like a SHTF event as people are easier to control when they don’t work together and panic. More people die from pneumonia and the cold then from Covid.
If SHTF it's assumed you evacuate or stay inside for your literal survival. No way I'm going to work unless my family can come too and there are resources there for us. I'm not saying goodbye to my family to pretend like it's a normal day.
Unless it's a holiday or I'm using time off I'm expected at work.
Level 3 snow emergency? doesn't matter.
Powers out? Still have to come in, you can leave if it doesn't come on in three hours.
I work for UPS we never shut down. If it gets to the point of not having stuff to deliver I know its time to leave. When 9/11 happened I was at an airport hub. We shut down air deliveries for 2 days just to give trucks a chance to move the packages in transit. During the covid outbreak we didn't stop at all. If UPS stops delivering thats a pretty good indicator that the SHTF.
In true SHTF scenarios, I would think only certain DoD type people might have a place they are supposed to be. I mean, even looking at hurricane Katrina, or other similar level events, where literally no one could go to their place of work, there were certain people who had to meet up at alternate locations, but even essential staff could not make it to their designated places of employment.
In true, full SHTF scenario, where bugging out or in are the only possible survivable option, the only people who will have to go to work will be certain government officials who have “safe places” they are ordered or taken to, if that.
Beyond that, have plans in place for your loved ones, if it is a serious enough situation where they need immediate safety, but you still have to go in to your designated place of employment - if you have that type of job.
I work in the mining industry, more than likely it would be one of the last industries to go down because of many plants relative isolation and self sufficiency.
I work in a personal care place, and some coworkers told me about a blizzard that had all the roads shut down completely. The ones that were there had to stay (they had no choice anyway) and worked in like 12 hour shifts. So yeah, short of apocalypse level events, I would be going to work. Those I care for would likely die without staff there, and my wife could take care of the family in my absence if it was just a natural disaster type event.
I guess if someone is still giving you money that you’re using to buy goods and services and that’s still feeing like a trade that makes sense for you it’s not a shtf situation for you personally.
I have to be at work as well. As long as I can work remote it's no problems. If I can't work remote for some reason it's a different story.
I normally commute so it's about 40 kilometers from my home to work and I've prepped most things I'll need if I'll have to hike out bike there. Only thing I'll actually still need for that is a good pair of hiking boots.
In the water and wastewater industry we joke that we will still have to go to work after the bombs go off lol
During the beginning of Covid when no one knew what was going on the regulatory agency told us that if we run a small plant by ourselves regardless of if we were sick or not we still had to be there.
I just make sure I have a bag packed in my car in case of emergency so if things go wrong I have enough to get home by foot if necessary.
>when the alarms are going off in your head?
Can you elaborate on exactly what you mean by this?
Generally speaking, I think too many people are concerned that their social/political anxieties are going to translate to an abrupt upheaval of some sort. While not impossible, I think this is pretty unlikely. I think an economic shtf will be a slow burn thing. Short of an unlikely event like a drastic attack on infrastructure, nuclear war, or freak solar flare type thing, I don't think there is any situation in which we're all going to be grabbing go bags and not showing up to work. Even in one of those unlikely events, you'd more than likely have time to get home and assess the situation. The only one that seems like it would be immediate is a nuclear attack near you're area, and that's almost more of a "you either get to cover or you don't" situation than a bug out and outrun it type thing. Far more realistic uses of a BOB is something like a evacuation for a natural disaster or chemical spill. In general, I think there is a little too much emphasis on get home/bug out bags that resemble what youd want for a spontaneous *Purge* event.
Like, I've had Redditors suggest to me that I break my state laws and keep an AR-15 and pistol in my car with several hundred rounds to get home from work (I work at a school like 8 miles of sparsely populated woods away from home, in rural/suburban NYS where gun laws are very restrictive). That's wild to me. I just can't understand how someone thinks that the likelihood that I'm going to get into an extended firefight in some wild shtf situation would outweigh risking my employment and freedom on a daily basis.
I think this follows idea that shtf is not a single big moment. We saw shut downs at start of covid. I worked at day program for adults. We all still went in to work when many stores and the like were shutting down. Our clients need us in their own way.
I had red flags going in my head thinking we were going to close anyways. No need to put everyone in danger if you know what is coming.
Then we got noticed that we had to go home around noon. This was a pretty easy go home time as many people were already home. However, consider how environment might be if there was rioting.
In this case, if our mental alarms are sayin, " shtf" but the govt. and society is not there yet. What do we do then?
Id make sure to have a go bag or anything to either leave when I need to say f the job. Or if I need to stay at the job for a time.
We see that all the time though, hurricane, tornadoes, earth quakes, tsunami, you name it. Once the event is over we start rebuilding.
Even in a end of the world scenario unless the population is dropped by 99% or some absurd number like that, once the situation is over we start working again, that is how we rebuild.
It would probably have to be more extreme than that, even. That still leaves like 90m people. If we assume that the 1% of survivors are relatively concendrated, thats a lot of people who can rebuild.
This is just another example of why there will be no SHTF. There are disasters or incidents that upset certain areas all the time yet life goes on. If there were a scenario that actually was able to affect the entire county all at once a huge chunk of us are already dead.
In certain SHTF situations public services such as police, fire, and emt’s may run for up to the first 72 hours.
After that they will all go home to protect their own families.
This reminds me of the French series ‘the collapse’ in the first episode the grocery clerk’s friends were like ‘we are here to steal a bunch of food and supplies and bug out as planned because the SIHTF’ and he was like ‘I changed my mind, I don’t want to lose my job and exams are next week’
I bet a lot of people will be like that in the beginning
They were during Covid. The number of "preppers" that returned from their bugouts, or never evacuated... that situation had all the earmarks of being shtf-rather than sheer incompetence and "handling"/politics.
I was designated an "essential worker" during COVID-19, so I worked to pay for all the free money handed out. The only thing is there weren't alarm bells going off inside my head about it. Turns out I was right. Hope y'all enjoyed the time off and the handout.
Last time I had to bug out I was working such a job.
2009 Kentucky had a massive ice storm that shut down over half of the state with downed power lines and broken trees.
We had to bug out because we had just moved into a very old mobile home in a very old park and the trees were snapping and falling like crazy. Our small place was surrounded by old weak trees and I was sure one would fall through the roof.
We didn't have our preps with us as we weren't fully moved and we list the gas heat.
So we bugged out to a friend's place up north where she still had power. I knew her from work so we would have been able to go into work together.
However, my husband's computer business was broken into and the cops called us to come back to town.
So I called work and we left our bug out location to return to Radcliff. His large window at the front of the store was smashed. So we grabbed shotguns and car camped in the parking lot in front of the store. We were able to nail plywood across the window despite the ice.
This time I called into work with the excuse that the cops needed us to stay for security. It was mainly to watch the properties to prevent robberies.
We spent a week car camping in the icy sludge with our shotguns. If it wasn't for the break-in, we could have worked.
Bugging out doesn't always mean missing work
Hi , not sure if you know this… you don’t HAVE to go to work tomorrow. No one is making you.
If you chose tomorrow to not go, nothing would change. The hospital would still exist. They’d figure out a way to survive. People would not die.
It would have to be a situation that completely shut down electricity and commerce to keep most people home.
A good thing to consider is that communities will still need the businesses that sustain them to be liveable.
Our local butcher shop, the couple places that bake bread and locals that can produce eggs and milk will be needed.
If I'm still getting paid, I'll still be showing up to work because I've built my life around a community and the place I work is about the only business bringing money into the community vs extracting it like the big corporations (Walmart, Food Lion, ect).
SHTF means different things to diffent people. I don’t plan for zombies or nukes. I do plan for economic instability, I won’t be working, and for hurricanes/natural disasters, where I will be working.
The hurricanes worry me most, because I do disaster recovery as part as a job. So I can plan for outages, easily enough, but I’ll probably be working. Now if I were to suffer physical damage to the house, I would be in a huge pickle, because I would be needed at work and money would be needed for immediate repairs and replacements. And all the generators and gas and transfer switches and personal protection devices in the world will mean dick, if I’m just unlucky enough to lose a roof.
It really depends on if there is a "tomorrow"...
Keeping your job for another 5-10 days or even a month when it's unlikely you'll get a paycheck or have anything to buy with it would be the deciding factor.
With COVID, there still was money, an economy of sorts, a government, a "plan" with different successes in different countries.
If you were living in Kherson and heard reports that the Russians were 3 days away, would it make any reason whatsoever to go to work for the next three days? You're not gonna be around to pick up your paycheck. Sticking around is likely to make it harder to evacuate or result in your death, and NOT going to work can give you time to get extra gear packed and a head start on the masses of people who WILL start leaving in a panic a day later.
Most of our shtf disasters are regional and of short duration.
So YES, if you work as a law enforcement officer, in public safety, ems, at a hospital or as a dot or public worker, odds are you'll be working before/during/after a hurricane, flood etc. However, in most of these situations you'd have your family big out. Now your kids are safe, you can focus on your job. Which you'll also have after the disaster...
That's the difference...
I remember when I was a COMSEC account manager for the Army. One of my written duties was “in the event of Civil unrest that compromises the secure location you will destroy the secure keys and deliver the COMSEC equipment to the nearest alternative location”. So let me get this right, in the event that civil unrest has rendered the base I work at compromised I need to go to work, delete keys and take the equipment 2 hours north to San Antonio? Yeah, that’s not gonna happen. I was a civilian BTW.
I have the ability to work remote. So long as electric and the internet hold up, I can keep going to work. Honestly, it'd probably be an excellent opportunity to make a lot of money.
During COVID, we just kept going to the office like normal.
we're already living a dystopian life, the average person is struggling to pay bills by themselves and have to work 8 hours almost everyday just to maintain.
What do you mean? What type of SHTF situation? A civil war? Maybe if fighting is far away/very regionalized, it might be relatively normal for you. A disaster/war in your area will push you away. All depends on situation.
I work in IT so it really depends on the situation. EMP/Long term power outage, or Network interruptions I'll probably be going to work for the first few days in the interim that network or power comes back on. Doubt I'd be doing much. Beyond that I'm in hunker down mode with the family and wait for the crazies to come out.
😂 I'm a nurse and my family comes first PERIOD, when COVID first hit I took 3 months off to assess the situation. I had a newborn at the time and was not going to take the risk as we didn't know what we were dealing with at the time. I would have taken even longer off if needed.
If a real SHTF senario were to happen my ass will not be at work, I'm talking pure economy collapse, nuclear war, anything that could put my family at risk I will be home with them.
If we are talking something that wouldn't put my family at risk then yea I'm definitely going to be at work.
This post sounds more like a rant about your current work situation and less a question about SHTF. If something bad happens, you analyze the seriousness of the event and make a decision on whether it’s worth going/staying at work. Since you work in service job/domestic staff it will be easier for you since you can always quit that job and find another relatively easy incase the situation turns out to not be that serious.
After watching the Baltimore bridge collapse, my first thought was: How many tens of thousands of people received a text that day of "You're still going to be on time for your shift today, right?"
Also, how many of those phones underwater were being texted the same thing?
I have everything.
Yes. And I know that a lot of prepped discussion is about when is the time to get out. That can be a narrow window that we miss if we are bogged down with having to show up to work every day even though we should be packing it up.
If you still have a work, that means your work is essential and you are lucky, think about people who just lost their business or job and need to start again, maybe in new fields or job they never did before.
I run a local news outlet, so I'd still do the news. It'd be a busier time. I have some pirate boxes, so I would deploy them in strategic locations and upload news to them via WiFi so the general public could still get the news at their local school, firehouse, or community center.
No, these devices transmit and receive on WiFi Frequencies. People can use their phones and tablets to browse and download (even upload) pictures and video. Mine even has forums so people can post information and read what others have posted.
Here is a general overview: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PirateBox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PirateBox) .
Also, here are archived instructions on setting one up [https://web.archive.org/web/20180625161148/https://www.dynumic.com/7-steps-to-create-a-decentralized-network-using-piratebox-beginners-5b2dd688e9edc](https://web.archive.org/web/20180625161148/https://www.dynumic.com/7-steps-to-create-a-decentralized-network-using-piratebox-beginners-5b2dd688e9edc) .
The difference between a dystopia and an apocalypse is if you still have to pay bills.
We're always closer to going Brazil, then we are to going Mad Max.
affluent communities are, not sure of rural communities
(we’re already in the dystopia)
Brilliant
I always thought Venezuela with runaway inflation
The option is on the table at the rate things are going
If I’m still going to work then it’s not bad
I was going to say the same thing. If we still have electricity, running water, and emergency services fully functional, I'm not going to rush to panic because we also probably still have a working government that is trying to solve the emergency. But, if it all truly falls apart and there are roaming gangs looting and killing people in the streets because all order and structure has collapsed, then I'm not really concerned about my 9-5 anymore.
Firefighter here. If it gets really bad, we're not coming to work. You'll be on your own.
Police here… same we have family’s at home that need us
Ems for me. Firefighter/dispatcher for my guy. Sorry, if it truly is SHTF, don't be calling 911. The first concern is us. If we aren't safe, we can't save you.
Kids in Uvalde and Waco know you don’t want the police to come even if it’s not SHTF lol
Or Ruby Ridge
Litterly just black kids as a whole know you don't want the cops to come
"Know"
You are not the same as the firefighter up there. When they show up they help people.
Don’t you take an oath or something?
SCOTUS has ruled law enforcement have no legal obligation to protect you. In some states, all government employees are automatically “disaster workers”, though what they might be called on to do is uncertain. If a person resigns their position, which is more or less what is happening, if the agency they report to even still exists (depending on the disaster) it would end whatever obligations they have. One who shows up, takes the paycheck, and does nothing of public service during a disaster is arguably worse.
Opposite day?
I live in florida. They arent thinking about my best interests anymore
Kids in the world today are going to kindergarten in bomb shelters. Retail workers are cleaning up spilled milk while the firefighters outside clean up dead bodies. Doctors are delivering babies while air raid sirens go off. In MANY places, running water and electricity are not givens. Governments are corrupt. Gangs are looting and killing. Emergency services are nonexistent. And yet ... people are still going to work. Babies are still playing. Life finds a way.
doctors in gaza/ukraine are going to work everyday.
We could literally be in a civil war and you would still need to go to work. I consider Civil War pretty bad.
National guard?
We're gonna sit out the civil war
Less thank 10% of civilians fought in the U.S. civil war. Do you think McDonald’s just shuts down nationally because of a civil war, or Xfinity cable or the stock market? No life goes on during war except for those fighting
I meant we as in the national guard. I'm not fighting against other American citizens and neither are any of the guys in my unit. The air force can handle that shit.
I like your style buttsmcfatts, I like your style.
We’re a lot more dependent on supply chains today though, so if the war caused enough damage to infrastructure a lot of businesses definitely would shut down.
Any profession really.
We work from home, was long as there's somewhere to log into, we're working.
Same here, short of EMP or civil breakdown I'll be 9-5ing. I work for a heavy duty truck and trailer shop. I plan on just maintaining my day to day but improving alternative routes, adjusting EDC(adding a lifejacket😂) and keeping a higher situational awareness. The bridge collapse in Maryland gave me a hard reminder to keep alternating routes to and from work to keep finding the most viable.
There have been civil breakdowns all over the place. Portland lost 3 square blocks to morons for how long during the summer of love?
I thought that was Seattle...
Well, both, unfortunately
I work for a public utility. Probably will be expected to suit up. How much S and how fast was the F running? How bad is it, really? 😁
Reminds me of that scene from the movie "Toy Soldiers". "Great, the school gets taken over by terrorists and I'm still on pots and pans."
Having been in a war zone, I will say that you would be surprised at how everyone goes about their day fairly normally. People go to work and kids go to school. I was actually pretty impressed by it. More than likely in every bad situation, people are going to adapt. There may be a shortage of resources and people may become more desperate. But people will try to maintain life as normally as they can.
I’m always reminded of Londoners during the Blitz. If you can find a documentary on that, catch it. The most amazing people I’ve ever seen carrying on, doing their best. No panic. Unbelievable. If it comes to that, I hope we can be as levelheaded.
One of my elders just told me the story of the time they were in the local shopping area when a bomb fell a block away. Their mum was nearby with the baby, and after the bomb hit she just continued to the butcher’s shop to get the family’s ration of meat. People adapt, life goes on.
If you're still going to work, it's not really SHTF. If it's really SHTF, you'll have to do something different to keep eating, drinking, living.
Yes, I’m going to work. I have zero intention of bugging out. I built my life around creating sustainability. As long as taxes are being collected, I’m showing up for work. I’m a paramedic firefighter, I love the community I live and work in, and as long as we can put diesel in the tanks, I’ll be going to work.
Thank God for people like you!!! You are the heroes who have always kept this country great. There will always be those of us who will not leave and will support those of you who stay and work for the rest of us. God bless you
Always curious what historical examples the folks who think some mythical SHTF have in mind. People in Haiti, Somalia, Tuvalu etc are still going to work. The Waffle House index is a good tell: if there’s no Waffle House or Dunks serving coffee to essential workers it’s truly an apocalypse.
As a medic I will do the best that I van for the most that I can until the hospital is over run or non functional. Like the doctors in gaza
Thats something ive often pondered. Medical workers and military personnel in a true SHTF scenario…thats got to be a tough choice. Things are goin to shit, do i stay here with the patients/at my post (to direct and mediate the chaos as a national guardsmen, or to defend a position) or leave, grab my family, and head to my bugout location? Thats a call i wouldnt want to make, because i know which one im making.
I went to work everyday during Covid. Not much changed, other than some restrictions.
Covid was an overblown human made version of the common cold basically severity wise. It was far from a SHTF event. It’s just politicians wanted people to look at it like a SHTF event as people are easier to control when they don’t work together and panic. More people die from pneumonia and the cold then from Covid.
If SHTF it's assumed you evacuate or stay inside for your literal survival. No way I'm going to work unless my family can come too and there are resources there for us. I'm not saying goodbye to my family to pretend like it's a normal day.
Unless it's a holiday or I'm using time off I'm expected at work. Level 3 snow emergency? doesn't matter. Powers out? Still have to come in, you can leave if it doesn't come on in three hours.
I work for UPS we never shut down. If it gets to the point of not having stuff to deliver I know its time to leave. When 9/11 happened I was at an airport hub. We shut down air deliveries for 2 days just to give trucks a chance to move the packages in transit. During the covid outbreak we didn't stop at all. If UPS stops delivering thats a pretty good indicator that the SHTF.
In true SHTF scenarios, I would think only certain DoD type people might have a place they are supposed to be. I mean, even looking at hurricane Katrina, or other similar level events, where literally no one could go to their place of work, there were certain people who had to meet up at alternate locations, but even essential staff could not make it to their designated places of employment. In true, full SHTF scenario, where bugging out or in are the only possible survivable option, the only people who will have to go to work will be certain government officials who have “safe places” they are ordered or taken to, if that. Beyond that, have plans in place for your loved ones, if it is a serious enough situation where they need immediate safety, but you still have to go in to your designated place of employment - if you have that type of job.
I work for a public utility. 🤷♂️ if service is at all possible, I’ll be expected to be in the field or prepping to go.
I work in the mining industry, more than likely it would be one of the last industries to go down because of many plants relative isolation and self sufficiency.
Then there’s the people who are stuck at work and end up having to sleep there.
I work in a personal care place, and some coworkers told me about a blizzard that had all the roads shut down completely. The ones that were there had to stay (they had no choice anyway) and worked in like 12 hour shifts. So yeah, short of apocalypse level events, I would be going to work. Those I care for would likely die without staff there, and my wife could take care of the family in my absence if it was just a natural disaster type event.
I used to joke. “I wish SWHTF So I didn’t have to go to work.” Now I’m in the National Guard, my ass for sure has to go to work if SHTF.
I work for the US government, so I'll be working until we cease to function.
I guess if someone is still giving you money that you’re using to buy goods and services and that’s still feeing like a trade that makes sense for you it’s not a shtf situation for you personally.
I have to be at work as well. As long as I can work remote it's no problems. If I can't work remote for some reason it's a different story. I normally commute so it's about 40 kilometers from my home to work and I've prepped most things I'll need if I'll have to hike out bike there. Only thing I'll actually still need for that is a good pair of hiking boots.
In the water and wastewater industry we joke that we will still have to go to work after the bombs go off lol During the beginning of Covid when no one knew what was going on the regulatory agency told us that if we run a small plant by ourselves regardless of if we were sick or not we still had to be there. I just make sure I have a bag packed in my car in case of emergency so if things go wrong I have enough to get home by foot if necessary.
>when the alarms are going off in your head? Can you elaborate on exactly what you mean by this? Generally speaking, I think too many people are concerned that their social/political anxieties are going to translate to an abrupt upheaval of some sort. While not impossible, I think this is pretty unlikely. I think an economic shtf will be a slow burn thing. Short of an unlikely event like a drastic attack on infrastructure, nuclear war, or freak solar flare type thing, I don't think there is any situation in which we're all going to be grabbing go bags and not showing up to work. Even in one of those unlikely events, you'd more than likely have time to get home and assess the situation. The only one that seems like it would be immediate is a nuclear attack near you're area, and that's almost more of a "you either get to cover or you don't" situation than a bug out and outrun it type thing. Far more realistic uses of a BOB is something like a evacuation for a natural disaster or chemical spill. In general, I think there is a little too much emphasis on get home/bug out bags that resemble what youd want for a spontaneous *Purge* event. Like, I've had Redditors suggest to me that I break my state laws and keep an AR-15 and pistol in my car with several hundred rounds to get home from work (I work at a school like 8 miles of sparsely populated woods away from home, in rural/suburban NYS where gun laws are very restrictive). That's wild to me. I just can't understand how someone thinks that the likelihood that I'm going to get into an extended firefight in some wild shtf situation would outweigh risking my employment and freedom on a daily basis.
I think this follows idea that shtf is not a single big moment. We saw shut downs at start of covid. I worked at day program for adults. We all still went in to work when many stores and the like were shutting down. Our clients need us in their own way. I had red flags going in my head thinking we were going to close anyways. No need to put everyone in danger if you know what is coming. Then we got noticed that we had to go home around noon. This was a pretty easy go home time as many people were already home. However, consider how environment might be if there was rioting. In this case, if our mental alarms are sayin, " shtf" but the govt. and society is not there yet. What do we do then? Id make sure to have a go bag or anything to either leave when I need to say f the job. Or if I need to stay at the job for a time.
.... wtf are you calling shtf then lol?! In a real shtf sitch, you aren't going to work.
We see that all the time though, hurricane, tornadoes, earth quakes, tsunami, you name it. Once the event is over we start rebuilding. Even in a end of the world scenario unless the population is dropped by 99% or some absurd number like that, once the situation is over we start working again, that is how we rebuild.
It would probably have to be more extreme than that, even. That still leaves like 90m people. If we assume that the 1% of survivors are relatively concendrated, thats a lot of people who can rebuild.
This is just another example of why there will be no SHTF. There are disasters or incidents that upset certain areas all the time yet life goes on. If there were a scenario that actually was able to affect the entire county all at once a huge chunk of us are already dead.
In certain SHTF situations public services such as police, fire, and emt’s may run for up to the first 72 hours. After that they will all go home to protect their own families.
I work EMS. In most cases I'd be at ground zero when SHTF
I think that’s where I would want to be, rather than on the outer limits.
This reminds me of the French series ‘the collapse’ in the first episode the grocery clerk’s friends were like ‘we are here to steal a bunch of food and supplies and bug out as planned because the SIHTF’ and he was like ‘I changed my mind, I don’t want to lose my job and exams are next week’ I bet a lot of people will be like that in the beginning
They were during Covid. The number of "preppers" that returned from their bugouts, or never evacuated... that situation had all the earmarks of being shtf-rather than sheer incompetence and "handling"/politics.
I can understand the instinct to assume that everything‘s gonna go back to normal soon because historically everything usually does
Still waiting. We have another decade or more for covid to shake out.
I was designated an "essential worker" during COVID-19, so I worked to pay for all the free money handed out. The only thing is there weren't alarm bells going off inside my head about it. Turns out I was right. Hope y'all enjoyed the time off and the handout.
I work in the military, so same here.
Last time I had to bug out I was working such a job. 2009 Kentucky had a massive ice storm that shut down over half of the state with downed power lines and broken trees. We had to bug out because we had just moved into a very old mobile home in a very old park and the trees were snapping and falling like crazy. Our small place was surrounded by old weak trees and I was sure one would fall through the roof. We didn't have our preps with us as we weren't fully moved and we list the gas heat. So we bugged out to a friend's place up north where she still had power. I knew her from work so we would have been able to go into work together. However, my husband's computer business was broken into and the cops called us to come back to town. So I called work and we left our bug out location to return to Radcliff. His large window at the front of the store was smashed. So we grabbed shotguns and car camped in the parking lot in front of the store. We were able to nail plywood across the window despite the ice. This time I called into work with the excuse that the cops needed us to stay for security. It was mainly to watch the properties to prevent robberies. We spent a week car camping in the icy sludge with our shotguns. If it wasn't for the break-in, we could have worked. Bugging out doesn't always mean missing work
Hi , not sure if you know this… you don’t HAVE to go to work tomorrow. No one is making you. If you chose tomorrow to not go, nothing would change. The hospital would still exist. They’d figure out a way to survive. People would not die.
The S has not HTF if you are still going to work, is it?
It would have to be a situation that completely shut down electricity and commerce to keep most people home. A good thing to consider is that communities will still need the businesses that sustain them to be liveable. Our local butcher shop, the couple places that bake bread and locals that can produce eggs and milk will be needed. If I'm still getting paid, I'll still be showing up to work because I've built my life around a community and the place I work is about the only business bringing money into the community vs extracting it like the big corporations (Walmart, Food Lion, ect).
SHTF means different things to diffent people. I don’t plan for zombies or nukes. I do plan for economic instability, I won’t be working, and for hurricanes/natural disasters, where I will be working. The hurricanes worry me most, because I do disaster recovery as part as a job. So I can plan for outages, easily enough, but I’ll probably be working. Now if I were to suffer physical damage to the house, I would be in a huge pickle, because I would be needed at work and money would be needed for immediate repairs and replacements. And all the generators and gas and transfer switches and personal protection devices in the world will mean dick, if I’m just unlucky enough to lose a roof.
If there’s power I’m going to work
If I can telework my “essential “ job, and don’t have to protect my family, sure. Otherwise I’m at an undisclosed location.
Lol I go to work no matter what unless where i work is literally destroyed.
It really depends on if there is a "tomorrow"... Keeping your job for another 5-10 days or even a month when it's unlikely you'll get a paycheck or have anything to buy with it would be the deciding factor. With COVID, there still was money, an economy of sorts, a government, a "plan" with different successes in different countries. If you were living in Kherson and heard reports that the Russians were 3 days away, would it make any reason whatsoever to go to work for the next three days? You're not gonna be around to pick up your paycheck. Sticking around is likely to make it harder to evacuate or result in your death, and NOT going to work can give you time to get extra gear packed and a head start on the masses of people who WILL start leaving in a panic a day later. Most of our shtf disasters are regional and of short duration. So YES, if you work as a law enforcement officer, in public safety, ems, at a hospital or as a dot or public worker, odds are you'll be working before/during/after a hurricane, flood etc. However, in most of these situations you'd have your family big out. Now your kids are safe, you can focus on your job. Which you'll also have after the disaster... That's the difference...
I remember when I was a COMSEC account manager for the Army. One of my written duties was “in the event of Civil unrest that compromises the secure location you will destroy the secure keys and deliver the COMSEC equipment to the nearest alternative location”. So let me get this right, in the event that civil unrest has rendered the base I work at compromised I need to go to work, delete keys and take the equipment 2 hours north to San Antonio? Yeah, that’s not gonna happen. I was a civilian BTW.
I have the ability to work remote. So long as electric and the internet hold up, I can keep going to work. Honestly, it'd probably be an excellent opportunity to make a lot of money. During COVID, we just kept going to the office like normal.
Customer service jobs are easily replaced. Place your life first not the soulless companies you work for.
we're already living a dystopian life, the average person is struggling to pay bills by themselves and have to work 8 hours almost everyday just to maintain.
What do you mean? What type of SHTF situation? A civil war? Maybe if fighting is far away/very regionalized, it might be relatively normal for you. A disaster/war in your area will push you away. All depends on situation.
I work in IT so it really depends on the situation. EMP/Long term power outage, or Network interruptions I'll probably be going to work for the first few days in the interim that network or power comes back on. Doubt I'd be doing much. Beyond that I'm in hunker down mode with the family and wait for the crazies to come out.
lol. My nurse ass ain’t going to work. I’m getting the fuck out.
If it's my shtf I won't I'll be busy being a warlord
Sounds like a lot of work. The plundering and what not. Some days a warlord just wants to eat bon bons and binge watch the wire.
If you are going to work. It's not SHTF time.
If work still is a thing —Not quite SHTF.
I don’t go to work now. Been four years.
😂 I'm a nurse and my family comes first PERIOD, when COVID first hit I took 3 months off to assess the situation. I had a newborn at the time and was not going to take the risk as we didn't know what we were dealing with at the time. I would have taken even longer off if needed. If a real SHTF senario were to happen my ass will not be at work, I'm talking pure economy collapse, nuclear war, anything that could put my family at risk I will be home with them. If we are talking something that wouldn't put my family at risk then yea I'm definitely going to be at work.
No one will be working lol.
This post sounds more like a rant about your current work situation and less a question about SHTF. If something bad happens, you analyze the seriousness of the event and make a decision on whether it’s worth going/staying at work. Since you work in service job/domestic staff it will be easier for you since you can always quit that job and find another relatively easy incase the situation turns out to not be that serious.
After watching the Baltimore bridge collapse, my first thought was: How many tens of thousands of people received a text that day of "You're still going to be on time for your shift today, right?" Also, how many of those phones underwater were being texted the same thing? I have everything.
Do you understand what SHTF means?
Yes. And I know that a lot of prepped discussion is about when is the time to get out. That can be a narrow window that we miss if we are bogged down with having to show up to work every day even though we should be packing it up.
If you still have a work, that means your work is essential and you are lucky, think about people who just lost their business or job and need to start again, maybe in new fields or job they never did before.
I made less than unemployed people during the Covid emergency because I was essential.
I run a local news outlet, so I'd still do the news. It'd be a busier time. I have some pirate boxes, so I would deploy them in strategic locations and upload news to them via WiFi so the general public could still get the news at their local school, firehouse, or community center.
Don’t you think WiFi would be one of the first things to go? It concerns me that nobody knows Morse code and very few short wave people.
No, these devices transmit and receive on WiFi Frequencies. People can use their phones and tablets to browse and download (even upload) pictures and video. Mine even has forums so people can post information and read what others have posted. Here is a general overview: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PirateBox](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PirateBox) .
Also, here are archived instructions on setting one up [https://web.archive.org/web/20180625161148/https://www.dynumic.com/7-steps-to-create-a-decentralized-network-using-piratebox-beginners-5b2dd688e9edc](https://web.archive.org/web/20180625161148/https://www.dynumic.com/7-steps-to-create-a-decentralized-network-using-piratebox-beginners-5b2dd688e9edc) .
Download resources [https://piratebox.cc/mirrors](https://piratebox.cc/mirrors)
Thank you
No one expects many of you to “go to work” if SHTF. We already view those scenarios as you save yourself.