Let's see how you handle
this interruption into your birthday celebrations ....
A
neighbor knocks on your door asking if you have any food you can share. They’ve
run out and are hungry. They could use some water too. Do you have enough to
share? How are you going to handle this situation? (Keep in mind the effect
your decision would have on your relationship with your neighbor after the
disaster is over.)
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patsi
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I'd always thought we had plenty of food stored. I was just checking on what we had and I bet there would be a lot gone by now if we hadn't had the ability to replenish any of it. We had a lot in the freezer. Hopefully the gas for the generator has lasted. It varies as to how much we have ahead. We usually use it up before refilling everything. Hopefully we would have thought to have everything refilled before the potential storm. So....to answer the question. Since neighbors are asking, we would share food and water if we had it. We should still have enough food so that we could share. Water is more questionable. If it was strangers coming to the door, perhaps not. It would also depend on what we'd heard about how much longer before things would get back to (somewhat) normal.
ReplyDeleteIt takes more food then we think when we have to live solely out of our pantry!
DeleteUnless water is being supplied to our community from outside sources, it would probably be me knocking on the door! We would probably have food in the freezer but it would have spoiled long ago. I'm pretty sure I would have distributed it with neighbours before it went bad though. Our pantry would be getting pretty bare. I mean we could eat beans and rice, but only if we had the water to cook them. I definitely need to get more canned goods in the pantry. I think some tetra packs or jugs of juice in addition to water would be a good idea too. We need to get more gas for the bbq too. Does anyone have any idea how long a cannister of gas would last if you were using it daily? Also, I wonder how many tiny camp stove fuel cannisters I would need for my coleman camp stove per week?
ReplyDeleteMarney
Marney, water and supplies were trucked into our area in huge amounts, but getting to it for some was quite the feat!
DeleteWe have a lot of pasta and rice in our pantry. I'm pretty sure we'd be able to at least share a bag or two with a struggling neighbour without hampering our families needs. It's not a balanced diet, but food is food. The down side is that this food does require water to cook it (thus why we might still have quite a bit). I also know how to make bannock bread in a frying pan, which we would probably still have ingredients to make (flour, salt, baking powder, butter/margarine & water). We could share some of this as well. Bottom line, I wouldn't turn away someone who was hungry if we could spare food some from our supplies.
ReplyDeleteAs for the water, we're struggling with this need ourselves. If we were able to get more gas for our generator, we could run our well pump periodically to fill up water jugs from our well (as could anyone in our neighbourhood). I would invite the neighbour to come over and fill up their jugs when we were doing ours. They might have to boil it to make it safe for consumption, but water is water at this point!
Rhonda, that's what we chose to do ... share, and as a result others shared with us. In this situation, it was the right thing to do!
DeleteHmmmm ... for some reason, my post did not post. As a single person living in a new community, I haven't met many of my neighbors -- most residents are couples or small families with one or two children. So, perhaps my approach would be different. Cooking for one is not always a treat, and when I shop, quantities are virtually always higher than single-serve, plus I try to put up fruits and tomato-based sauces in the summer months, so my "stash" is likely holding out than that of a young family, who relies on the local grocer and buys week-to-week only. I would likely bring some tea or other beverage outside and spend some time talking with my neighbor, getting to know her in order to be in a better position to judge sincerity. If I felt comfortable with her, I would likely invite her family over for a shared meal, of something I could "stretch" to feed everyone. Some of my fondest memories from my childhood were our neighborhood spaghetti night during our winter snowstorms, when everyone would pool what they had for dinner. Sometimes the smallest gesture means the most and will likely strengthen our community.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you have a good plan!
DeleteI think we'd have to share with our neighbors (some would be HARDER to share with, but. . .) as this isn't the end of the world as we know it, (I hope), so they would still be neighbors AFTER this was over. We should have enough to share at least something. Perhaps it would not be nutritionally the best, but it would be food.
ReplyDeleteSandi, I agree! In this situation I would share too!
DeleteI feel that the person who needs some food and water might have something to barter with... we might be able to spare some drinking water, not sure what else we could give them, it would have to be worked out. If help is coming soon, it won't be a huge issue, but if not? This is where the rubber meets the road and frankly I hope that situation never happens.
ReplyDeleteJoy, it's alot to think about isn't it?
DeleteMy husband and I faced that question long ago--we would share. I'm sure that we would have needed to use lots of freezer food by this point, although we would be able to run the generator and keep it frozen for a while. So, I would be sharing that first. Because, unless we could get fuel, we would need to let them thaw at last. We could use our water filter to get the water we need, although I think it would take quite a while to pump a quantity through the small filter we have. What we have is a backpacking one from years and years ago. It's supposed to be able to make mud puddle water safe, so.....but it's SLOW. It's been a long time since we went backpacking, but that's what I remember about it.
ReplyDeleteWe've been keeping in contact with our nearest neighbors since the beginning of this crisis, having potlucks to clear out vulnerable food, sharing food, and helping each other in any way we can. Tonight's "guest" was from beyond our little circle of friends.
ReplyDeleteSince he was already hungry, we gave him the leftovers of our spaghetti dinner and cake. That took care of him for the moment, but to help him after he left our house, we also gave him some dried beans (we have a LOT), as many apricots as he was willing to take, and some eggs (we can't always keep up with the 5 per day the girls average).
We don't have a lot of extra water already purified, but we put some into a bottle for him to take and explained how we've been purifying it, in case he has some water left in his storage tank.
-Susan O.
I would share, because I would like to think that someone would share with me i4 I was in the same situation.
ReplyDelete