I can cook...sew...garden...fish...can....make candles...soap...im mid 40s country girl....and im appalled by how helpless people are today

My grandmother was warned to get money out of the bank before the crash of the depression. She then had about $630.00 of cash. The cash made a huge difference. The man who warned her had followed news stories in the newspaper. He made the correct conclusion to get money out of the bank.

I also have been homeless and hungry. It is amazing what you would eat after not having anything for one week. It was in the 70s, I had just graduated from college on the honor roll. I could not find a job and nobody would help me financially. It was a hard lesson, but I learned more being homeless than in college. This can happen to anybody. Your “luck” can change at anytime and everything go wrong. I don’t judge homeless people, it could be me or you next time. Help the homeless if you can!

***PREPARING STORED FOOD SUCH AS BEANS OR RICE REQUIRE CLEAN WATER AND A COOKING SOURCE !!! NOTE: CRUSHING YOUR BEANS, RICE, LENTILS REDUCES THE COOKING TIME, "PLEASE REMEMBER THIS" !!!

My mother kept worn tires in the backyard, and resoled our shoes. And this was in the 70's. We'd walk around the neighborhood at night, looking for fruit trees that hung over walls. Bringing home bags of over ripe fruit.

We, myself and wife, were born because the war began. We, like everyone born then, had to live with grandparents, our mothers had no houses. The women could not afford houses; the males were gone to war. We grew up in the culture of the depression, grandparents. We had nothing. My wife's tiny community combined ration stamps to get her first pair of shoes. Her father worked as math teacher in a college that gave him room and board but no salary until the navy claimed him to teach submarine commanders the math of submarine attack. My father was a B29 pilot. The greatest generation did more with less than you know. Rosie the riveter was our idol, not a myth.

Something you did not mention about the community helping each other was the church. Religion and history always play a part in each other. Churches were, and are, epicenters for the communities to gather. Those tight groups helped each other out. Many Americans have moved away from going to church, simply because of their busy lives. (I am not preaching or promoting! I am just stating a fact.)

Back in the early 80’s I used to work with the elderly as a “Care giver”, mostly doing chores for them. One thing that surprised me at first was the amount of them who used to save cash under their mattresses. I’d be halfway through making the bed , lift it up and see , in some cases, thousands stashed away.

Another difference between now and then, is that back then, there weren't as many people so reliant on pharmaceuticals. So when the SHTF, lots of these people won't be able to get their meds and the death toll will be much higher.

Both my parents grew up during the depression. My father said people didnt even lock their doors and windows. This time it will be a bloodbath; its not going to be close to the same thing.