linnugripiblog

The main food problem in 1918 was not so much a shortage of food per se, but people dying because they were too weak to get out of bed to get food and there was no one available, either family or others, who were willing or able help. In some cities, entire hospitals were overseen by just one or two doctors and a handful of nurses. One hospital in Philly (IIRC)had a staff that consisted entirely of only 3 nurses and no doctors at all. It would be impossible for 3 nurses to cook for and feed several hundred patients no matter how hard they tried. On a smaller scale, the same thing was happening in families who had a number of members sick or dead. People died from simple lack of basic bed side care and lack of water and food.

Currently too many people don’t keep enough things at home nor near to hand if they got sick, or live alone, or live with people that don’t recognize the dangers of dehydration, ect, nor when to call a doctor/ambulance, let alone what to do if one couldn’t send a sick person to hospital.

Another difference is in 1918 they did not know what caused the sickness. Authorities told people to wear gause masks to prevent infection. People willingly went out and worked in completely ineffective masks. So the supply chain continued. Today’s citizen is better informed and more likely to stay home - which will break the supply chain.

In 1918, you might be concerned that you building’s electrical power might go out, but if it did, you just lit the gas lamp and tossed a couple more logs on the fire and went on with your day. Today, you can’t do that unless you have purchased a gas or oil lamp already and live in a home that happens to have a fireplace which many modern homes do not.

IF as many have predicted there will be 20% to 50% of the workforce not at work on a given day during a pandemic, that means that a significant number of the workers still working will have been forced to take on additional workload and tasks that they are unfamiliar with. They will be overtired, very unhappy and unsure of what they are doing. This in my mind sets up a situation in which mistakes will be made much more often than is the norm and the potential for larger mistakes resulting in larger disruption goes up also.

After living thru 3 major hurricanes over the past year including the surprise in our area of Wilma, I have really become versed in the psychology of the unprepared. Even with several days of warning, people do not prepare unless really pushed. Panic sets in very quickly. Shelves clear in the blink of an eye and are not replaced for many days even weeks. The very next day there are people wandering the streets to find something open. Unbelievably there are many people who do not even have a days worth of food or water stored.

1918 has nothing to do with us.
We all live a very spoiled life. They did not.
Our expectations are very high. Theirs were not.
They got a lot of exercise. We don’t.
They were used to alot more bacteria than we are. We are anti-bacterial everything.
They were used to working physically alot harder than we work. They were used to death alot more than we are.
We think a doctor can fix everything and when they can’t, we get mad and sue. They accepted it as God’s work.
In all, I think they were alot more prepared than we are, even without the constant newsfeeds that we have.