Your Survival Blog
Gather Ye… Not
Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,/ Old Time is still a-flying:/
And this same flower that smiles to-day/ To-morrow will be dying.
—Robert Herrick (1591–1674)
“Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,” we’ve all heard. Most people don’t know the poem the line is from, which is somewhat jarring to modern ears (it’s about marrying before you’re old and ugly). But think of this line in a context of emergency preparedness.
The time to gather rosebuds is while “the glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he’s a-getting.” The time to gather is not — and let us get away from Herrick for a moment — when storm clouds are gathering on the horizon. And it is most definitely not when the flames are licking at your neighbor’s door.
Gathering is a common human response to disaster. A depressing number of plane-crash survivors try to lug their carry-ons down the aisle while exiting, even when begged not to by the flight crew; often these people’s attachments to their laptops or spare underwear prevents fellow passengers from getting out in the ninety seconds after the crash (often the window before the plane catches on fire or sinks), costing others their lives. A survey of World Trade Center survivors found that two out of every five spent time trying to collect items before evacuating the towers; presumably the percentage was higher among those who didn’t make it out in time.
People’s attachments to their toothbrushes or their current paperback novels might seem inexplicable in the face of really horrific events, but it’s a normal response to disaster, a way of making sense of events. But it might kill you. So before catastrophe comes to you or your neighborhood, just remember: don’t gather.
If you think you “can’t” live without the family Bible, your prize collectible, or the slides of your child’s kindergarten graduation, then put those at the top of your home evacuation plan, and do one of the following:
- put them in your actual evacuation bag, before you need it.
- make copies of anything irreplaceable and store those in your evac bag.
- put that priceless painting or Ming vase by the door you expect to leave by, and grab it as you run through the door.
But keep in mind that you may not even be home when the wildfire or earthquake hits. If you have sentimental items that can be duplicated, like a photo album, make copies and keep them somewhere else — perhaps in a safe-deposit box out of state, or at a relative’s home in another town. And think about letting go of any material objects in case of a major catastrophe.
Do not, for the love of all you care about, risk yourself during an actual evacuation. During a plane crash, take nothing (except essential medication). During a home or work evacuation, take only your preplanned bug-out bags. If you haven’t already planned for the love letters you wrote in college to go along when you escape your house, don’t go back for them. Sentimental items — photo albums, baby shoes, your wedding veil — are not worth your life.
Posted by eks on 05/14 at 09:51 AMThen be not coy, but use your time ...
You may for ever tarry.
square peg web
A survey of World Trade Center survivors found that two out of every five spent time trying to collect items before evacuating the towers; presumably the percentage was higher among those who didn’t make it out in time.
People’s attachments to their toothbrushes or their current paperback novels might seem inexplicable in the face of really horrific events, but it’s a normal response to disaster, a way of making sense of events
Posted by square peg web on 06/16 at 08:24 PMThe Western custom of a bride wearing a white wedding dress came to symbolize purity in the Victorian era, not virginity.Within the “white wedding tradition,a white dress and veil is not considered appropriate in the second or subsequent wedding of a widow or divorcee.diamond bands
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