I want to share something that happened to me that really got me thinking about how reliant we are on technology and power – and what that means for those of us who value self-reliance.
The Day My Lunch Plans Collapsed
I went to eat lunch at this place I’ve been going to regularly. It’s kind of like Panda Express, but it’s a smaller chain with just a few locations around Houston. The portions are crazy big, and the food tastes better too. I’ve been going once a week or so.
I usually eat around 11 o’clock because I don’t eat breakfast. By that time, I’m really hungry. So I show up right when they open, walk in, and all their food is hot and steamy, ready to go.
You order a side and an entree. They’ve got noodles and fried rice to choose from, but I always get the vegetables. I’m trying to do the glucose spike thing, so I eat the vegetables first, like the broccoli and all that. Today I got bourbon chicken as my side. It’s really good stuff – I really like eating it.
So the girl takes my order, I tell her I’m going to eat there, and I go up to the front to pay. When I walked in, I noticed their menu screens said “internet disconnected,” so they weren’t showing the menus like normal.
I put down my credit card to pay, and it beeps, but then just says “processing, processing, processing” – it wouldn’t stop. My food was getting cold, and I’m thinking, “Come on, man. I’m ready to eat. I’m hungry. I’m starving.”
I finally said, “Hey, I’m willing to pay cash. I got some cash here.” I try to keep my cash when I can, but I was ready to use it to eat!
When Technology Fails Us
Here’s where it gets interesting. They took my money, but they couldn’t open the register because somehow the program was tied to the internet.
The guy kept pushing buttons saying, “It won’t open. I can’t get it to open.” He tried another machine with the same result.
By this time, there was a line of about six or seven people behind me. Two already had their food prepared in containers or on plates. The others were just waiting to be served.
They finally said, “We can’t process payments.”
Now, If I owned that restaurant, I would have said, “We’ve already packed up your food. Have it on us,” and told everybody else, “Sorry, our computers are down right now.” But they didn’t do that. They just said, “Sorry, we don’t have a way to take payment.”
So I turned around and ended up going somewhere else.
Our Reliance on Power
As I was leaving, I started thinking about how reliant we are on power. For preppers, this isn’t anything new. We talk about this all the time. There are all those fictional dystopian novels about what happens when the grid goes down.
But one thing I was thinking about is: what other things do we not realize require power, where we’d be sunk without it?
Sure, we’ve got generators, solar power generators, batteries – all that stuff. But have you identified those things in your life that would require power or what would be needed in an emergency?
Identifying Your Power Dependencies
I’ll give you an example that comes to mind. I’ve got a gas stove, and I don’t ever want to change it to an electric stove. When the power is out, I want to be able to cook my food.
In summer, I wouldn’t use the gas stove if the power was out. I’d go outside and use my camping stove or a butane stove because I don’t want to add heat to the house. Even though I have an AC unit I could run, I really don’t want to do that.
But during winter, like during Winter Storm Yuri that I always talk about (it’s kind of funny how long ago it was now), I was cooking when the power went out. I was able to just continue cooking because we have a gas stove. The heat was nice to have because it was winter and everybody was freezing. I think I was making chili, which was a good meal for that time.
Here’s the catch though – the stove requires a little electrical spark to light it when you turn it on. So I know from experience that I need to have another way to light it if the power is out. That’s not a big deal, but it’s something to plan for.
Beyond the Obvious
What other things are out there that maybe you don’t even think about that require power?
Is there a NOAA radio you use that needs power? What about life-saving devices or alarms?
I think sometimes we don’t think these things through, and you might find yourself someday in a situation where something critical doesn’t work because the power is out.
The restaurant today was a perfect example of a business that hadn’t thought through what happens when their systems go down. They’ve been there for months, and apparently, this hasn’t happened before. So hopefully they come up with a plan.
But what about you? Have you thought through your own dependencies? It’s worth taking the time to consider what you rely on every day that might not be available when you need it most.