Are we getting soft?

[susi]

Are we?
Why am I asking?

I've been thinking this weekend, about whether we've been slowly pampering ourselves to the point that we're unable to cope with anything outside of the ordinary. And when things do go wrong, do we expect too much from "those responsible" ??

First we have the Eurotunnel disruption, apparently caused by severe weather conditions and causing people to be "stranded" for some hours in trains and cars, without food and water... are we now no longer expected to go hungry for a few hours???!!! Are we not able to cope in a queue of traffic unless someone taps on the window and offers sandwiches and hot coffee?

I just listened to a Eurostar passenger on the BBC, whose Paris-London journey had take 11 hours. The train broke down in a tunnel and because there was no electricity the guard could not operate the tannoy and therefore needed to walk up and down the train to give information directly to passengers. But this guy complained that they only got information "every hour". What do people expect? The guard needs to receive information himself, then walk up and down a train giving mini speeches to passengers, probably answers numerous questions too, all in between performing his other tasks, and all within an hour.....

Maybe the past has a tint of pink rose, but I can't help thinking that years ago people accepted that things can go wrong, things can break down and maybe sometimes people have to just pull together to get through problems, and be glad that they pulled through, once the ordeal was over. Why do we always need someone to blame or even sue? Why does it have to be someone else's fault? Are we not capable of riding out life's events?

Is it not wise when we travel to cary a bottle of water and a snack? Does anyone really set out driving in winter, with forecasts of snow, and not have a blanket in the car boot? And whilst I sympathise with Tengu, whose water main had sprung a leak yesterday, but do you really not have supplies at home to cover a temporary emergency? I understand it was annoying that the water engineer didn't knock on everyone's door, but instead got on repairing the leak But come on A few bottles of water plus basic food stuffs should be in everyone's cupboard. Forest fires, nuclear leaks, lorry driver strikes, computer system failures, swine flu, civil unrest, aliens.....there are millions of eventualities that could happen any day. We don't have to worry, but we should all be prepared, whatever situation we are in. Things can and do sometimes just "go wrong". I just fear that many of us are too soft to deal with things when they do

 

[Leonidas]

"those responsible" ??

Susi - You hit the nail on the head at the very beginning!

Who is responsible ultimately, I am (for myself), no one else.
Things break (i.e. the trains), things do not always go to plan, ultimately it is down to me to be prepared for the fundamentals.

I 'always' carry a box in the car containing food, water, fire lighting, plus a host of other equipment including spare clothes in a dry bag, sleeping bag, cold weather clothes, medic kit, etc
Essentially enough gear for a weekend, roughing it.
If I am not going to be near the car I have a grab bag with a leaner amount of essentials.

Case in point, visiting the parents this week, had a power cut, out with kit from the boot of the car, head torch, candles, gas stove for hot water etc......no drama, we were good for several days if need be.
For me these are the fun, break from the norm occasions, where we have no choice but to get back to basics.

or I could have sat in the dark without a warm drink and blamed the electricity board....

The more the state nannies folks, the more dependant folks become on the state....it is a vicious circle.

Tom

 

[BOD]

When I was five my mother rowed me to an island in Paijanne lake in Finland. We were there for weeks nearly a month living in her uncle's cabin. Just the two of us.

Her parents never came once to see how we were doing. There was no phone. The only other people we saw were two men on an overnight fishing trip. Self sufficiency.

Later we left Finland never to live there again. We left for troubled parts of the world. We lived through de-colonialisation, riots, religious and racial, terrorism, water and power shortages, bombings and the like.

Nowadays people panic when there is no power or water or if they are late and caught in a traffic jam.

They ought to go somewhere where they can establish what are the real priorities in life and what brings peace of mind.

 

[armie]

Same thing over here on the Continent. On the news someone complained that our railway services didn't offer stranded passengers any food or drink. Next item: Poland, where 20 people died because of bad weather.

 

[Dangerous Dan]

There you have it: Blame. Rather than take responsibility for our own action we strive to find someone else to blame. Most of us here can be quite smug with our fore-sight and ability to brew up in a force 9 with nothing more than two sticks and some badger spit but most barely give it a thought. At the end of the day --it happens, live with it. Stop whining and learn from the experience

 

[Waterworx]

There you have it: Blame. Rather than take responsibility for our own action we strive to find someone else to blame. Most of us here can be quite smug with our fore-sight and ability to brew up in a force 9 with nothing more than two sticks and some badger spit but most barely give it a thought. At the end of the day --it happens, live with it. Stop whining and learn from the experience

Seems to be the way nowdays, blame others and whinge like theres no tomorrow. 9 times out of 10 whinging doesn't make a blind bit of difference, like you said, just live with it, deal with the situation without making it worse.

 

[JohnC]

Most of us here ....

Do you think that those here should spread the word about being prepared? When our water went off last year, (very similar situation to Tengus) we had water to hand, and the boys filled a couple of bottles for washing etc as the pressure went down.

A friend yesterday was considering travelling up to Aberdeen, and I advised her, other than "is your journey necessary?" to get some gear in her car in case of being stuck, whether for an hour or overnight..

 

[Nigel]

Its not a case of being soft its a case that if i pay my money for a service i excpect them to deliver, if eurostar cannot deliver a reliable service then i would like to be told before i book a ticket and if my water supply is going to be disrupted why and for how long. If i take a long journey in my own vehicle then i will take all the neccessary precautions to make my journey safely.

 

[andybysea]

Why is it that other countries have far worse weather than us but the whole country and travel doesnt grind to a halt with a inch or so of snow and -1 degree temperature.
Plus agree with above we pay over the odd's for most things, so we kinda expect but not always receive a good service.

 

[wanderingblade]

It's not just 'outdoor preparedness' that is sadly lacking these days.

In my job (property Maintenance) I often come across people who have come unstuck through being poorly prepared for everyday occurences.

It's staggering how many people will flood their house after a burst pipe because they don't know where (or what) the stopcock is. Many also can't tell you where their electricity meter / gas meter / shut off valves are - scary if anyone has a gas leak!

Many people can't change a fuse, change a flat tyre, change a tap washer or any of a huge number of these supposedly simple jobs.

Take people out of the relative saftey of the home environment and put them into an outdoor situation such as being stranded in a snow bound car or unable to get to the shops for 48 hours and I could see many people getting into alot of trouble very quickly.

 

[forestwalker]

On the other hand I talked to some Germans (?) in the traffic mess we had here Wednesday night. They figured that it was to messy to go on (near whiteout, stops for hours whenever one or several trucks got jack-knifed across the road) so they were simply going to sleep in the car. Ok, they were going to northern Finland to hike, so they had all the kit, but anyway.

 

[susi]

Its not a case of being soft its a case that if i pay my money for a service i excpect them to deliver, if eurostar cannot deliver a reliable service then i would like to be told before i book a ticket ...

I'm the first to howl if I get poor service for my money, but surely at least some of this Eurostar problem comes under Force Majeure?.

Why is it that other countries have far worse weather than us but the whole country and travel doesnt grind to a halt

At least here in Finland we have 5+ months of snow and we need to keep running whatever the weather, so we have the infrastructure to deal with it. The infrastructure is however extremely expensive (people, snowploughs, grit spreading for every pavement, floor heating for pedestrianised streets - they use the return line from district heating system for this - deicing aeroplane wings, winter studded tyres, repairing road damage from tyre studs, etc). That said, I've never heard of anyone sueing the local council because they slipped on a non-gritted pavement. It's winter, it's icey, it happens

Anyway, back to the subject

 

[Melonfish]

only around the middle, but i deny it when people ask

This morning preparing for the worst i got all my walking gear and my staff together and set out for the train station. when i got there i was quietly suprised to find the trains not only still running but on time.
had they not been i was fully prepared to walk the 6 miles to work in the snow/ice.

 

[Nightjar]

Hi Just reading through all the replies. yesterday I was reading a book called 'The Handbook to Higher Consciousness' By Ken Keyes Jr.

He mentioned that nowadays we simply expect stuff to work all the time instead of it working most of the time. If a car blows a tyre then it blows a tyre, no point in getting upset,just have to get the thing fixed.

It is our perfect expectations that confound us and our lack of preparation for things that do not go the way we want.

 

[susi]

Like that Nightjar!

 

[ex Member swampy99]

I have been working the last 2 nights as a rapid response paramedic in the south east and it still amazes me that people do not dress for the weather conditions. Went to a female who was drunk in the street and was complaining she was cold her freind did not like the reply when I said "If you wear a little black dress thin jacket no leggings and open toed high heels what do you expect?" said the paramedic in his beanie hat fleec hi viz gloves buff H/H long johns stab vest (just as an extra layer) and smug grin on his face. Plus went for a works drink an a bouncer was not going to let me in a pub as I had Brasher boots on I did point out the snow and said that it is better than trainers. the genral public in the large do not prepare for the worse even if they get a warning that it is coming. If there isn't an app on the iPhone for it they don't know what to do.

My 2p worth.

 

[TallMikeM]

Why is it that other countries have far worse weather than us but the whole country and travel doesnt grind to a halt with a inch or so of snow and -1 degree temperature.

other countries (by which I assume you mean the baltic/ scandinavian ones, you weren't clear) have snow on a regular basis. We have it once in a while. Consequently, they have a need and requirement for lots of equipment for keeping the roads etc clear. We don't need this equipment so much. It makes no real sense for us, financially, to keep lots of equipemtn sitting around gathering dust for most of the year, to be pulled out on the odd occasion it snows. Can you imagine the howls of outrage if every council kept a massive fleet of ploughs on its books and onlt got used once or twice a year!!!
The other thing to remember, we are a much more densely populated country than, say, Norway. Where I live the roads only just function on a perfect day, it doesn't take much to throw it all into chaos. Short of reducing the population (a whole other argument) the only answer is to build more roads. Not something I would be in favour of, and not something any lover of nature would approve of either (IMO, natch).
And I could tell you some horror stories about what happened in france when they got a dumping of snow last week. Makes us look good in comparison.

EDIT: it seems I've just said what susi already said.

 

[launditch1]

'Give me convenience or give me death'.

 

[Toddy]

MOD hat firmly on

Please do not turn this thread into a political discussion.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Toadflax]

"Are we getting soft?"

But what paper would sell with a headline: "Power cut! Old lady lights a candle, puts some wood on the fire and gets on with life!"

I go through life with a huge dose of cynicism for what is reported, compared to what actually happens and credit much of the press with a complete disregard for the truth and the public interest.

I remember a report on the TV a few years ago following an IRA bombing, where the report was so depressing with reports of how awful it was (which I am sure it was for all those directly concerned), but I compared that to the style of reporting from the Blitz period and would much rather hear that things were going badly, but we can cope and we will get through it.

I wonder how many people on the train complained about the Eurostar Guard's visits, and how many people just got on with it?


(Grumpy old) Geoff

PS: Edit: Must have been writing this while Toddy was doing her reponse. Sorry if I'm going off the rails!