Japan...new thoughts.

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
I keep watching this and am so in awe. This is just such a tragedy of almost unheard of magnitude. I dont think Hollywood could a written this in a script. First they get hit by an earthquake higher than any they had ever planned for, then they get a tsunami of the century which just wipes out everything. Then there is a volcano and a nuclear disaster and then to top it off...a snowstorm!

Only thing that could come next is a tornado.

But what amazes me is how composed the people are. They stand in line after line with such grace. You can see the complete despair on their faces but there is no looting or fighting amongst the people. It is just amazing to me.

I am also just amazed at how the people on the west coast of the US are in a panic thinking that the radiation is going to hit us. Uhh...no. It couldnt possibly do that at this time. It is not the time to be running out and buying all the iodine pills...lol. They only protect you for 48 hours anyway so taking them now does no good.
 
H

HaoZi

Guest
I can't speak for NOLA, but I know where I lived in MS it was very similar after Katrina. Even Kiddo would nicely stand in line with me and wait to get into a grocery store after they re-opened because supply lines weren't fully re-established. Only limited people were allowed in at a time, with everything rationed so you could only buy a maximum number of each thing, like 2 loaves of bread at a time to be sure as many as possible were able to get basic stuff. We got there early and still waited well over an hour just to get inside the store. And the lines when Wal-Mart finally re-opened were just unreal. I didn't even bother with the front check-outs, I'd go straight to electronics and check out there.
 

klmno

Active Member
I have fallen short on keeping up with this. I didn't know about the snowstorm. I presume the Japanese culture leads them to remain composed- unlike Americans who are more the outspoken type. LOL! There's good and bad in all. I personally, don't know how I would handle such a natural disaster- maybe there is still some shock in them, too.
 
H

HaoZi

Guest
I'm pretty sure based on my experience there's still a lot of shock in them.
 

KTMom91

Well-Known Member
I haven't heard any reports of negative behaviors from Japan...looting, rioting, etc., the way we often do after a major tragedy here in America. Does that mean the Japanese, as a culture, are more civilized than Americans in crisis? While there are many examples of people pulling together after tragedy, there are also examples of others taking advantage of a situation for their own gain.
 

DDD

Well-Known Member
husband and I were wondering about the iodine pills this evening. they protect for 48 hours? Do you then get another pill for the next 48 hours? Not being facetious, I honestly don't know and neither did husband.

Yes I do agree that the culture would tned to embrace peaceful behaviors. My heart truly goes out to those who are there.
DDD
 
H

HaoZi

Guest
Really, looking at the photos and videos, I wonder if there's much of anything left to loot. I'm sure people are grabbing things they find that will help them survive (just common sense), but they're not as materialistic as we are, so even if anything was left I don't see them having a huge problem with people breaking into stores left standing for 50" televisions or whatever.
 

ThreeShadows

Quid me anxia?
Over the years, I have spent a fortune in therapy trying to discard my disaster scenarios. The events in Japan have me regressing big time. I never understood how the nuclear energy industry could go on propagating waste for which there is no safe disposal.
 
H

HaoZi

Guest
Ummm.... *looks at overstocked cabinets and thinks about all the post-apocalyptic books she likes*
I'd say mine is a PTSD thing, but I've always been this way and always expected the worst sooner or later, just on worldwide scale. How much does it consume you 3S? Does anything help?
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
3S, hon, don't feel so bad. I've been planning to restock my disaster stores for some time now. We're preparing the family room and basement to do just that. husband thinks I'm a tad off my nut. Maybe I am, maybe not. Point is, I'll do it anyway. So it doesn't really matter.

Y2k I was ready, just in case. Did I really think that the world was going to collapse? Ehh not so much. I mean honestly we'd managed before computers, I figured we'd managed if they failed. It was other people's panic and over reaction I was stocking up against. Did I feel foolish when nothing happened? Nope. Just relieved. None of what I stowed away was wasted either. No harm no foul.

My kids got a good chuckle out of it. But then, as they say now, back then they weren't parents with the weight of responsibility on their shoulders. They no longer think it's so funny. easy child and sister in law are preparing for disaster in their own way with what they have to work with. Nichole can't do too much as she's not got much room. And once again I'm preparing. This time? I'll be even better prepared than last time. I've even got IV bags of saline and dextrose ect. Someone need catheterized? Got that covered too.

Paranoid? Not really. Pessimistic most likely with a heavy dose of reality. If I don't wind up needing it large scale.....it won't be wasted. Again no harm no foul. If it IS needed though, it will be there at the ready for my family, friends, and neighbors.

I do a little at a time per what budget allows. I don't go crazy with it. I just get extra when I buy or when there is a sale.

I can't call it paranoia or even PTSD when we as a whole seem intent on self destruction these days. I live by the better safe than sorry rule. But I don't let it consume me or hoover the joy out of life.

And I'll tell ya........such stores come in mighty handy during major snowstorms or ice storms. Which is why husband never objects anymore.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
As for Japan.........

I know many of their people are still in a state of shock.........but honestly, I doubt if it were us in their place we'd be handling it as well as they are as far as no looting ect.

My heart aches for all they're having to endure.
 

Mom2oddson

Active Member
I'm ashamed at how much the nuclear disaster there is bringing out the selfishness in me. husband is a nuclear worker. It brings this very close to home. See, husband would be one of the 50 if anything like that happened here. No doubt in my mind that husband would put his life on the line in a second. And even though I'd be proud of him and know he did the right thing, I wouldn't like it.

As it is, if Japan needs clean-up help when all is said and done, husband will go. I've been arguing with him about not being the VERY FIRST volunteer. He says there is no way he could live with himself if a young guy with little ones at home had to go while he stayed safe at home.

The 50 are very brave men. And I have a lot of compassion and gratitude for their families.
 

DammitJanet

Well-Known Member
Mom2...I have to admit I have been feeling very very glad that Jamie is out of the Marines right now. VERY glad. I cannot imagine the pain and anguish that families who know that they have kids in the military who are stationed over there are feeling right now. We have bases that are very close to the nuclear sites. The President has offered to withdraw the dependents from the area but that also means that if they do that, they cant go back until the whole disaster is over. That could be years. It is a very tough decision to make. Will a wife and her kids decide to leave their husband behind and head home to the states knowing they might not see him again for 2 or 3 years when they are 100 miles or more from the nuclear site? Hmmm.
 

ThreeShadows

Quid me anxia?
I'm not so much worried about my own well being. I'm a crazy coupon lady, basement is stocked. I'm worried about the children and the animal life on this planet. We have been given a beautiful place to live but we have no respect. All the critters here are a manifestation of something great. I want them to live on.
 

ThreeShadows

Quid me anxia?
"We need another and a wiser and perhaps a more mystical concept of animals. In a world older and more complete than ours they move finished and complete, gifted with extensions of the senses we have lost or never attained, living by voices we shall never hear. They are not brethren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners of the splendour and travail of the earth."
— Henry Beston
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Mom2 I think the conflict you feel over husband is natural. And those 50 who are there attempting to find a solution to the problem are special........I pray for them and their families.
 
Top