Destiny Survival

            This morning Mary Hunt’s “Everyday Cheapskate” newsletter offered info on saving money by cutting back on energy use.  One woman wrote in for advice because her husband didn’t want her to hang clothes on a clothesline.  He didn’t like the feel of clothes dried on clotheslines.  The poor baby!  The world’s going to hell, but his jeans are a little stiff.  Doesn’t your heart just bleed for him?

            Believe me when I say I know something about complaining.  In fact, I’ve had years of practice and am pretty good at it.  I’m so good at it that, often when I make a simple observation about something, I’m accused of complaining.  Furthermore, I resent being told it does no good to complain.  Sometimes it does.  It’s all a matter of perspective—knowing what to complain about and to whom.

            The guy who doesn’t like how clothesline dried clothes feel has a misguided and misinformed perspective.  I’m reminded of something I heard on the radio the day after Thanksgiving last year.  A reporter in a line at a mall on Black Friday commented he saw 40-50% discounts, but not the 75% discounts he had expected to see.  Good grief!  As the old saying goes, give a guy an inch and he’ll take a mile.  Not long before last fall, a 40% discount would have been radical.

            What does any of this have to do with prepping and survival?  It’s simple.  We each will have to adjust our perspective about our everyday way of life.  That means not complaining about petty things.  We’re in a rapidly changing world now, and one day the amenities we’ve taken for granted aren’t going to be there.  At the very least we’ll have far fewer of them.  It may be that something like doing laundry itself will be a rarity, or it will need to be done differently.

            There will always be complainers.  You know the type.  A guy will be standing in the food line in a FEMA camp and gripe about not getting seconds.  Besides that, last Tuesday’s mystery meat burgers didn’t have ketchup.

Again, it’s a matter of perspective.  Survival means adapting.  It doesn’t mean liking it.  It means growing up, shutting up, and moving on.

            By the way, Mary Hunt told the woman with the wimpy husband that clothes get stiff when detergent hasn’t been completely rinsed out.  She suggested using only the amount of detergent recommended.  She said to add 1/2 cup of white vinegar to the last rinse to get all of the soap rinsed out.

            I can hear it now.  The guy will complain about his clothes smelling like vinegar.  That’s OK.  No doubt there’s a special place just for him at the FEMA camp, if he lives long enough to get there.

2 Responses to “Surviving Life’s Little Annoyances–You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet!”