Worst case scenario (life question)

[MrsWargamer]

I'm wondering, if life took everything from you today, your home, your job, your savings, and left you penniless, homeless, and on the street starting all over again... and there was a new world to exist in, without the internet, and electronics (don't ask for the how that happened, not important to the question)... what would you be able to do, to get by?

Myself, if I was suddenly on the street, just me, a week's clothes, my teddy bear Frank and a book to read well, I'd be looking for a job as a nanny I guess. At my age, and with my health, and being stuck with the truth I've been physically disabled for 20+ years unable to work in the conventional sense, I'd have to resort to my extensive education base, my need for a place to live, which would need to be provided as part of the wage, and the fact I love kids and can teach (regardless of lack of credentials).

Much as I'd like to be a baker, it's rather physical. Much as I'd like to be a cabinet maker, it too is very physical. But there's no shortage of kids out there. And I'd cost a great deal less than day care.

[berto]

Teacher.

[Shellshock]

Combat artist.

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer

(don't ask for the how that happened, not important to the question)

We already have pretty good ideas how that can happen [;)]

[Edmon]

I was a computer engineer. If electronics and computers disappeared, I think I would earn a small fortune bringing the technology to the new world. Just showing people how to make electronic lighting would be absolutely massive.

[Orm]

I am pretty sure that I would not get by. Maybe a few days before the cold, wet, weather got me. Or starvation did. Or sickness. Or the chaos and violence...

[RangerJoe]

This would be my attitude, unfortunately I don't have one with ammo:

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer

I'm wondering, if life took everything from you today, your home, your job, your savings, and left you penniless, homeless, and on the street starting all over again... and there was a new world to exist in, without the internet, and electronics (don't ask for the how that happened, not important to the question)... what would you be able to do, to get by?

Myself, if I was suddenly on the street, just me, a week's clothes, my teddy bear Frank and a book to read well, I'd be looking for a job as a nanny I guess. At my age, and with my health, and being stuck with the truth I've been physically disabled for 20+ years unable to work in the conventional sense, I'd have to resort to my extensive education base, my need for a place to live, which would need to be provided as part of the wage, and the fact I love kids and can teach (regardless of lack of credentials).

Much as I'd like to be a baker, it's rather physical. Much as I'd like to be a cabinet maker, it too is very physical. But there's no shortage of kids out there. And I'd cost a great deal less than day care.

warspite1

The one thing you haven't mentioned is family. Are they still around or have they gone to?

[MrsWargamer]

Mom and dad have passed.

Brother lives a 4-hour drive from me. He's my hero, but sadly he's also someone I only get to see 5 days or about 20 hours a year (Christmas). His 4 boys, same story. My son, he's living his own life, I hardly see him too. So I basically live a life that's just me.

I do have a wealth of friends though. But, in the end, everyone has to figure out how to make it through the day.

[RangerJoe]

Well, if you do get along with your family, have you considered relocating?

[warspite1]

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer

Mom and dad have passed.

Brother lives a 4-hour drive from me. He's my hero, but sadly he's also someone I only get to see 5 days or about 20 hours a year (Christmas). His 4 boys, same story. My son, he's living his own life, I hardly see him too. So I basically live a life that's just me.

I do have a wealth of friends though. But, in the end, everyone has to figure out how to make it through the day.

warspite1

Sorry MrsWargamer, the question was not an attempt to pry into your personal life, I was asking in the context of your OP.

[MrsWargamer]

ORIGINAL: RangerJoe

Well, if you do get along with your family, have you considered relocating?

Oh, I wish

Granted, if tomorrow I had nothing, might as well go where they is eh
They live in Ottawa. I'm here in the middle of boring small town Central Ontario.

No worries Warspite, you posed a valid querry.
I don't live in fear of persons knowing my personal details. I'm not that interesting routinely

Some days, boy I have sure thought of just walking out the door with what I can carry and hitting the reset button on my life though (I'm guessing many think this eventually).

[Kuokkanen]

ORIGINAL: MrsWargamer

I'm here in the middle of boring small town Central Ontario.

Good to know. I hear there is some excitement in parts of USA right now, more than news can keep track of. Did you know, an angry old lady had gone out to put out a fire (arson) in Portland?

Some days, boy I have sure thought of just walking out the door with what I can carry and hitting the reset button on my life though (I'm guessing many think this eventually).

I know the feeling, though I wouldn't leave without my car [;)]

[Lobster]

Ah, emp. All of those things would be true except the homeless thing. Won't be any jobs because everything would be in the same shape. First hit the grocery store dumpsters. They throw away all sorts of things that are still very good. Then get out of town before the excrement really hits the rapidly rotating device and head south where it's warmer. Unless it's winter in which case we're all screwed except for those who already live south.

Been several works of fiction on the subject. It certainly wouldn't be pretty.

[Edmon]

ORIGINAL: Lobster

Ah, emp. All of those things would be true except the homeless thing. Won't be any jobs because everything would be in the same shape. First hit the grocery store dumpsters. They throw away all sorts of things that are still very good. Then get out of town before the excrement really hits the rapidly rotating device and head south where it's warmer. Unless it's winter in which case we're all screwed except for those who already live south.

Been several works of fiction on the subject. It certainly wouldn't be pretty.

I sort of disagree, you see up north here in Norway you have quite a few things in your favour if the "emp situation" were to occur.

1) Houses are designed to retain heat passively. The brutal winters here, demand high quality housing that maintains it's warmth even with the minimum of heating. Of course, if we get a hot summer being indoors absolutely sucks... but you'll get over it, or go outside.

2) High level of emergency preparedness. See #1 brutal winters.

3) Low relative populations. Norway is vast and sparsely populated.

4) Nature still exists here. There are deer, there are fish, there are forests. Lets face it, if you live in a central European country, the UK, etc... everything has been hunted to near-extinction and there would be a lot of very hungry, very angry people very quickly. Not so in Norway, where there would be a whole lot less people around and a whole lot more naturally occurring food to find in an emergency (contray to what you'd normally expect...).

5) There is still a lot of "primitive" industry around. Hunting, fishing, craft (including house building) using wood is still prevalent in Norway. Sure without power Oslo would be crippled, but many of the smaller towns would do ok.

[MrsWargamer]

I think Edmon summed up Canada nicely.

Well, not sure about some Norway stuff being here. Canada isn't quite as nice. Close. But our population doesn't use much of the country. 1 hour north of here, and you discover some outright wilderness. In Northern Ontario, the rule is don't rely on your cell being available, and have 3 days of food in your car. You ain't walking if your car breaks down.

I sure wouldn't like to do it, but, fortunately, I have the knowledge and the skill of how to survive in the wilderness. But at 60, well, I'd rather not.

There's a lot of work that's simply going to immediately disappear without electronics. Banking, lawyering, anything internet-based, anything that depends on a lot of data and use of a computer. A good woodworker will have good hand tools. A teacher still has her knowledge. A baker can bake with base ingredients. A medical professional that needs machines, is now possibly out of work, but a doctor is still a medic. You'd sure find out fast if a person's credentials were worth anything. I don't even have a high school diploma. I don't need one. I'm the woodworker, the teacher, and the baker.

Oh, yeah, I dislike cities for many reasons. Those mentioned are the main ones. I can bike to the wilderness from here.

As for the weather, well, I'm a snow bunny. Snow and me get along a lot better than heat and humidity. I wouldn't be moving south, I'd be going north.

Canada is the second-largest country on the planet. Likely the wettest, many islands for isolation if that is desired. Lots of lakes, lots of wilderness and fauna. It would be brutally primitive, downright 18th century looking without the electronics and all the infrastructure that requires it. No handouts, no social safety net. Not much in the way of social anything. You'd rapidly find out if you were worth anything in the 18th century.

I can't drive a car. I can build a wagon. I don't have a horse. So I'd be using a small cart. We'd sure not be able to indulge a lot of today's 'junk'. You wouldn't have a computer, or a phone, or a TV, or a game console, I wouldn't be able to lug around my library or my many toys. My wardrobe would sure shrink. I'd have a great collection of hand tools though, and my bakeware. I'd be useful in a community. I wouldn't be dragging around paperwork stating my skills, I'd prove it, and they would either hire me or not. I wouldn't be as concerned about my credit history as I might be today. Mortgage? what mortgage?

[RangerJoe]

Wild rice, wild blueberries, fishing . . . [:D]

[Lobster]

Yup, there are lots of people everywhere who would be able to survive the collapse of civilization, even in the north. I don't see the population of Oslo doing so great. Or Chicago or Toronto. Big cities would smell of death for some time.

[RangerJoe]

A cannibal: A man who loves his fellow man
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with gravy! [:D]

[Gilmer]

If there was still work being done I'd become some sort of laborer. Maybe even construction. If there was absolutely no work to be had, people in cities would be in big trouble. I've never hunted but I think I could learn before I starved.