Post 2: The More You Know

        I've been thinking about what turns a situation into an emergency and here's the problem: a lot of things do that. Today, though, I just want to talk a little bit about knowledge. Knowledge is power, ...and ...with great power comes great responsibility, ....and with great responsibility comes... uh...   ...The more you know, you know?   What I'm trying to say is to learn today what you will need tomorrow, and for that, I have an example:
      Let's imagine a flat tire. Now let's imagine that you're a thirteen-year-old girl who took your parents car to sneak out to watch the midnight premier of Twilight, or whatever. You get a flat tire, have no idea what to do, and you wouldn't dare call your dad to let him know what happened(he'd be so disappointed to find out you were watching Twilight). Well, it's the middle of the night, creepers are everywhere, and it's dark. Maybe the only experience you have with changing tires was that time you helped your dad, but accidentally spilled all the lug nuts in the snow, saying "fudge" at the same time, "only you didn't say 'Fudge.' You said THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of dirty words, the 'F-dash-dash-dash' word!" ...or maybe I'm confusing this with a different story. Anyway, this is an emergency.
      Now let's say you're the dad. You've changed a billion tires in your life, you aren't worried about the creepers because you've taken self-defense classes, have a concealed weapon, or you're 6'5" and 250 lbs. The only thing you have to worry about is convincing your wife that you were out doing something manly instead of being at the Twilight premiere. A flat tire is a good excuse, but it wouldn't help, all your wife's friends were in line with you asking why you didn't bring her. You just tried convincing them they were mistaking you for someone else while talking in a really bad Swedish accent. (Worst night of my life)
       Anyway, the point is that if you have the adequate preparations and knowledge, and apply them, then the emergency is averted. Of course, it is impossible to be prepared for everything. We will all face genuine emergencies in our lives, as you probably already have, but there are often many things you can do to be prepared for most things.
      Let's suppose, then, that the girl has been taught how to change a tire. She's obviously a good learner, because she's driving well enough for a thirteen year old after midnight. Any skills we know can be taught to another. It takes a little time and effort, sure, and TV and video games are a lot easier, but when you spend time with your kids and teach them cool things, they'll respect you more and they're less likely to sneak out at night.    I know what you're thinking, "What is she going to do about the creepers?"
      Well...

                                                                                                                                 ...what are dads for?

   Now let's look at the dad again. What if he's the one who's unprepared. I'm serious here. What if he's a guy who never really had to change a tire(you know who you are). Maybe he helped a little bit a time or two, and how hard can it be, really? Well, does he really know there's a spare tire in his car or does he just assume? Does he have a wrench and a jack? I know most of us do, but what if? That's kind of what this is about; "what if?"  Since we want to make being prepared part of normal life, and you use your car everyday as part of normal life, I think each of us can take a minute today and check, just to make sure, then we'll at least know what resources we have for what could be an emergency, and that is an important start.

    So for today, we'll do the baby step of checking for stuff in our car. If you've never changed a tire, ask someone to show you how, or Google it. I've learned how to do a lot of things from YouTube.

     Okay, so did we really want to hear about spare tires today? Sure, but how else does it apply? Well, there are a lot of things that become important to learn for an emergency. Have we learned what we need to about making sure we have clean water, how to start a fire, how to put out a fire, how to build a shelter if we need to, why it's important to stay calm, why we shouldn't just expect help will come, how to prepare without cashing in your retirement or selling your firstborn, what resources you have and how to use them, or what to do when you can't call 9-1-1? Well, those are some of the things I want to learn about, so if you're coming along for the ride, you're stuck with those. Of course, I would love to hear any other ideas, just post them here or anywhere I'll read them. This is an introduction to all that and hopefully a lot more. Knowledge really is power, and honestly, the last thing you want a disaster to take from you is the power you have to help yourselves and your family. Hopefully we can do more than we think we can, or at least be able to by the time we need it.