My Grandpa was a Doomsday Prepper
We've seen or at least heard of these popular shows on TV that show people stockpiling food and weapons for the coming collapse of the government, World War III, Armageddon, or zombie apocalypse. We look at these people and think, "God, what a bunch of whack jobs."
I found out recently this is not a new phenomenon. In fact, following World War II many people thought that it was only a matter of time before the Commies from Russia or China would make their way to American shores and we would have a another devastating global war. People began building bomb shelters in their basements. Stockpiling canned goods, water, and gasoline people expected any moment to hear the sirens signaling them to take shelter as an incoming atomic bomb arrived to blow them all to oblivion.
Of course, we all know this didn't end up happening. Those bomb shelters went thankfully unused and the cans collected dust as the threat of nuclear winter faded with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
I found out recently that my maternal grandfather was one of these people that was certain there would be a coming war and that we needed to be prepared. The basement was full of cans of gasoline and shelves of canned goods. He would also buy up clothes and consumer electronics with plans of opening a second hand store, which never quite worked out. When he passed, my aunts and uncles went to work clearing all the junk he had complied over the years.
Even as crazy as this may sound, he had a sense of humor over the whole thing which he used to cheer the family up when times were tough. One story my mother told me recently happened when my aunt Rita was in the hospital. She had Crohns disease, a terrible intestinal disorder which eventually ended her life. On one of these periods that she was hospitalized my grandmother was understandably upset.
My grandfather attempted to cheer her up with a joke. As they sat at the kitchen table he said, 'Well, at least we got plenty of dehydrated water."
My grandmother gave him a look. "What, are you talking about?"
"Yeah, dehydrated water. Just add water."
My grandmother rolled her eyes. But, it did cheer the family up a little. I guess that is where I get my corny sense of humor as well.
So, yeah we may look at these people that do the doomsday prepping and roll our eyes. But maybe we got it all wrong. Maybe they're just carrying on an American tradition.
I found out recently this is not a new phenomenon. In fact, following World War II many people thought that it was only a matter of time before the Commies from Russia or China would make their way to American shores and we would have a another devastating global war. People began building bomb shelters in their basements. Stockpiling canned goods, water, and gasoline people expected any moment to hear the sirens signaling them to take shelter as an incoming atomic bomb arrived to blow them all to oblivion.
Of course, we all know this didn't end up happening. Those bomb shelters went thankfully unused and the cans collected dust as the threat of nuclear winter faded with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
I found out recently that my maternal grandfather was one of these people that was certain there would be a coming war and that we needed to be prepared. The basement was full of cans of gasoline and shelves of canned goods. He would also buy up clothes and consumer electronics with plans of opening a second hand store, which never quite worked out. When he passed, my aunts and uncles went to work clearing all the junk he had complied over the years.
Even as crazy as this may sound, he had a sense of humor over the whole thing which he used to cheer the family up when times were tough. One story my mother told me recently happened when my aunt Rita was in the hospital. She had Crohns disease, a terrible intestinal disorder which eventually ended her life. On one of these periods that she was hospitalized my grandmother was understandably upset.
My grandfather attempted to cheer her up with a joke. As they sat at the kitchen table he said, 'Well, at least we got plenty of dehydrated water."
My grandmother gave him a look. "What, are you talking about?"
"Yeah, dehydrated water. Just add water."
My grandmother rolled her eyes. But, it did cheer the family up a little. I guess that is where I get my corny sense of humor as well.
So, yeah we may look at these people that do the doomsday prepping and roll our eyes. But maybe we got it all wrong. Maybe they're just carrying on an American tradition.