I'm Stumped

Here in southwest Ohio we were hit with Ike. Go figure. Evidently Mother Nature likes to shake things up a bit. She likes to screw with us enough to bring us the remnants of Ike. By the time he got here, he was packing sustained winds of about 40 mph with gusts (recorded not 5 miles from here) of 84 mph. Not only was he an unwelcome guest, he hung around for 4 hours on Sunday afternoon ruining a perfectly lovely day with the kidlets (and I had cast on for the Malabrigo cardigan I've been ruminating about for eons), even the Husband had a rare weekend off, for a while...until Ike showed up and he was called into work.

Not to minimize what the poor souls in Texas are going through, but Ike sucks eggs. Over 1 million people in our area had their power knocked out, and about 1/2 that number are still without, and many aren't expected to get it back until the weekend. So those unfortunate few will be without for a week.

So this is what has me stumped, not so much stumped as worried about our society in general. When this first started, those of us with Husbands that are anal about such things (another reason I'm glad I'm married to him), pulled out their 'crisis kit' that contains flashlights, batteries, battery operated AM/FM/weather radios, glow sticks, water bottles,extra toilet paper, and angry eyes (you never know), and fired up the radio to see what the heck is going on. It was then that we heard it could be a week for some before power was restored.

So the next morning, I grabbed a few kids and the cooler and went in search of ice. We found a Walmart 15 miles away open (with no ice to be had). Not knowing how long we would be without power, I decided to grab some non-perishibles. Luckily when we built the house, I insisted on a gas stove (I hate electric stoves), so I was able to light the stove with the 10 (o.k., hunny, it's only 5) lighters the Husband had stashed in the kit. I already had some food in the larder that would last until 2010, but we had picked up a few extra kids (the nephews) along the way, so I grabbed more soup, ramen noodles, bread, etc.

Here is the incredible part: There is an operating McDonald's inside this particular Walmart, with a line 50 deep waiting to be fed! Knowing they could be without power for a week, these people (people with children I might add) chose to spend their cash on fast food rather than stock up on bread and peanut butter. I'm worried about our society.

What happened to our pioneer, can-do, self-reliant attitude that our forefathers had? This was not the only fast food place that had power that I saw huge lines. Every restaurant that was open was packed!

Have we become too soft? I'm sure this is one of the reasons terrorists hate us. We have an entitlement mentality. We would rather be waited on than do for ourselves (Big Macs v. peanut butter, handknit v. store-bought). I found this disturbing. Maybe I've just been married too long to Mr. Survival. Actually, we were a little disappointed when the power came back on. I kept telling everyone it was like camping, but with out the sleeping on the ground bit.