Explain this to me.

[Gypsy]

Everyday you look out your window the the CLIFF below you is missing more and more of its substance AND the ocean is getting closer. People are telling you, repeatedly, to evacuate and that your building/home is going to be in the OCEAN before you wake up the next morning if you don't evaculate. You don't evacuate. Fall off cliff in middle of night. Die.

Wild fires and raging all around you, people have been ravaged, burned, killed by wildfires EVERY SINGLE YEAR in your general geographical area. You have a pool. You decide to wait out the fires in the pool. You boil to death instead of evacuating when the call comes to leave your home.

Is this Darwin's theory at work?

Why the HECK do people opt to NOT evaculate in the middle of natural disasters that are completely predicatable?

I mean come on I live in earthquake central. You can't really predict these things. But guess what? If ya could... the cats and DH and I wouldn't be HERE when some told me the BIG ONE was on it's way.


I don't get it.

Yes, Gypsy's rant is now over.

 

[swimmer]

So your govt tells you that smoking is bad, you see people wheezing outside of office buildings all day, and the warning labels could not be more specific about the cancer causing poison inside. You hear the commercials with the woman speaking out of a trach, you know your skin is turning sallow and you can''t keep up with your kids, but you keep smoking. You know that the pack cost more each year to cover the health care costs of smokers who statistically live shorter lives with greater health problems...but you keep ingesting poison.

I hear you Gypsy! Wow, the boiling alive imagery is not going to leave me today. Perhaps we all have self-destruct buttons internally that we activate through high risk behaviors....I prefer to kill myself slowly with baked goods.

 

[Gypsy]

Date: 1/22/2010 5:18:34 AM
Author: swimmer
So your govt tells you that smoking is bad, you see people wheezing outside of office buildings all day, and the warning labels could not be more specific about the cancer causing poison inside. You hear the commercials with the woman speaking out of a trach, you know your skin is turning sallow and you can''t keep up with your kids, but you keep smoking. You know that the pack cost more each year to cover the health care costs of smokers who statistically live shorter lives with greater health problems...but you keep ingesting poison.

I hear you Gypsy! Wow, the boiling alive imagery is not going to leave me today. Perhaps we all have self-destruct buttons internally that we activate through high risk behaviors....I prefer to kill myself slowly with baked goods.

Mmmmmmm... butter. I hear ya.

Hiya hon, long time no talk. How are you?????

 

[ksinger]

Date: 1/22/2010 3:09:09 AM
Author:Gypsy
Everyday you look out your window the the CLIFF below you is missing more and more of its substance AND the ocean is getting closer. People are telling you, repeatedly, to evacuate and that your building/home is going to be in the OCEAN before you wake up the next morning if you don''t evaculate. You don''t evacuate. Fall off cliff in middle of night. Die.

Wild fires and raging all around you, people have been ravaged, burned, killed by wildfires EVERY SINGLE YEAR in your general geographical area. You have a pool. You decide to wait out the fires in the pool. You boil to death instead of evacuating when the call comes to leave your home.

Is this Darwin''s theory at work?

Why the HECK do people opt to NOT evaculate in the middle of natural disasters that are completely predicatable?

I mean come on I live in earthquake central. You can''t really predict these things. But guess what? If ya could... the cats and DH and I wouldn''t be HERE when some told me the BIG ONE was on it''s way.


I don''t get it.

Yes, Gypsy''s rant is now over.

Technically, no. But some people ARE idiots.

 

[Deelight]

Date: 1/22/2010 6:10:58 AM
Author: ksinger

Date: 1/22/2010 3:09:09 AM

Author:Gypsy

Everyday you look out your window the the CLIFF below you is missing more and more of its substance AND the ocean is getting closer. People are telling you, repeatedly, to evacuate and that your building/home is going to be in the OCEAN before you wake up the next morning if you don''t evaculate. You don''t evacuate. Fall off cliff in middle of night. Die.


Wild fires and raging all around you, people have been ravaged, burned, killed by wildfires EVERY SINGLE YEAR in your general geographical area. You have a pool. You decide to wait out the fires in the pool. You boil to death instead of evacuating when the call comes to leave your home.


Is this Darwin''s theory at work?


Why the HECK do people opt to NOT evaculate in the middle of natural disasters that are completely predicatable?


I mean come on I live in earthquake central. You can''t really predict these things. But guess what? If ya could... the cats and DH and I wouldn''t be HERE when some told me the BIG ONE was on it''s way.



I don''t get it.

Yes, Gypsy''s rant is now over.

Technically, no. But some people ARE idiots.

Hrmmm some people are stupid seriously - or they have hero complexes I don''t know - the problem is to know when to flee, some people make the decision to late and as such get injured/killed that way.

Me personally first telling of get out, with family, cats and photo''s in tow - I AM OUT I have insurance to cover the belongings I don''t have insurance that can replace the loved ones and the kitties

 

[perry]

Explain this to me....

People are emotional, and not logical. Thus, many decisions are made for emotional reasons.

If people were logical.... They would not live in many of the areas that are likely to have natural disasters.

If people were logical.... Lust and love would not exist. We might chose a mate as the best health and financial stratagy.


If people were logical.... There would be no need for jewelry. Diamonds would just be a modestly priced semi-precious stone.


If people were logical.... There would be no ups and downs as your favorite team (or person) competes in a competition. No thrill of victory - and no agony of defeat....

If people were logical.... I''m not sure I''d want to live in that world.

So its a tradeoff... Being emotional allows many of the things we value most in life. But, it also allows us to make the wrong choices too...

However, most people do apply some logic to some of their choices; so as a general rule we as a species have been able to advance beyond living in tents and caves.

Have a nice day (another emotional statement).

Perry

 

[Miss Sparkly]

I never understood this either! My grandmother has been in the evacuation zone several times for the CA wildfires and yet she has yet to actually evacuate. She claims that she''s been in the house for over twenty years and has yet to see it be in true danger. It wasn''t until she was out walking her dog (by herself), fell on her face and had to have stitches that she decided to sell her house and buy one by my Aunt (who also lives in SoCal but has never been in the evacuation zone of the fires).

 

[that_someone_special]

Wait, so, did the boiled alive thing actually happen?

When I was younger (like 6) I always decided that if I was trapped in my bathroom (?!) and there was a fire burning I would just run a cold bath and get in. Never did it occur to me that the HEAT would eventually boil the water. Eek. Thank gosh I''m not 6 anymore...

 

[jewelz617]

Some people have nowhere else to go. They would rather die than be left with nothing.

 

[tlh]

Umm... don''t cats and dogs tell you when an earthquake is coming... I know they''ve said animals act cooky days before hand....

so gypsy... pay attn to your kitty! he may save your life!

 

[lulu]

What really baffles me is that people will then rebuild in the same high risk area.

 

[Smurfysmiles]

I totally hear ya. Back in 97 when our house was flooding in fargo, we had to take a flippin canoe about 200 ft across the front yard through the river to get out to our car on the main road...drive down the street about 1/2 a mile to the main main road where we would all ride a giant tractor bed just to get to school. We wanted to save our houses of course and that is why we stayed. But when the call came to evacuate, we were out of there like bats out of hell! Some people chose to stay and a lot of those people lost their homes regardless AND put their lives in danger. I just don''t get it.

 

[tyty333]

Date: 1/22/2010 8:35:17 AM
Author: swedish bean
Wait, so, did the boiled alive thing actually happen?

When I was younger (like 6) I always decided that if I was trapped in my bathroom (?!) and there was a fire burning I would just run a cold bath and get in. Never did it occur to me that the HEAT would eventually boil the water. Eek. Thank gosh I''m not 6 anymore...

I think people tend to die from asphyxiation first...the boiling comes later

.

 

[swimmer]

Date: 1/22/2010 9:45:11 AM
Author: tyty333

Date: 1/22/2010 8:35:17 AM

Author: swedish bean

Wait, so, did the boiled alive thing actually happen?


When I was younger (like 6) I always decided that if I was trapped in my bathroom (?!) and there was a fire burning I would just run a cold bath and get in. Never did it occur to me that the HEAT would eventually boil the water. Eek. Thank gosh I''m not 6 anymore...

I think people tend to die from asphyxiation first...the boiling comes later

.

Still not a pretty way to go.

Yes Perry, it comes down to free will, but there is something more out there than either being reasonable or being emotional. I am very emotional, but I use reason to direct the focus of my fears, loves, and loathings.

 

[Tacori E-ring]

I agree with Perry. I only realized recently how dysfunctional most people are. Not everyone has common sense to make sane and rational decisions. Sad though.

 

[Novel]

Date: 1/22/2010 8:43:04 AM
Author: PinkAsscher678
Some people have nowhere else to go. They would rather die than be left with nothing.

Or no way to get out. Look at what happened in Katrina. You can''t blame a lot of those people for being stuck there, if they had no car and there are no buses going to take them out. I think staying when you know your house can burn/you''ll be caught there and staying when you''re really stuck - you can''t leave, are two totally different things. There is idiocy and there is poverty.

 

[swimmer]

I believe that Gypsy was talking about the owners of mansions on the cliffs of Malibu...if you have 40mill to drop on a house, you can go to the Holiday Inn. This is different from Katrina. Very Very Very different.

 

[dragonfly411]

Honestly... I think it could be related to Darwin theory. Survival of the fittest. This includes soundness of mind. At this point these people are not making sane choices....

 

[oobiecoo]

Date: 1/22/2010 11:24:41 AM
Author: dragonfly411
Honestly... I think it could be related to Darwin theory. Survival of the fittest. This includes soundness of mind. At this point these people are not making sane choices....

Absolutely! I also think we (society, government, etc) coddle the idiots way too much!

 

[IloveAsschers13]

Date: 1/22/2010 11:21:38 AM
Author: swimmer
I believe that Gypsy was talking about the owners of mansions on the cliffs of Malibu...if you have 40mill to drop on a house, you can go to the Holiday Inn. This is different from Katrina. Very Very Very different.

This is different then Hurricane Katrina... BUT who thought it would be a great idea to have a city surrounded by a river and a lake UNDER SEA LEVEL? It''s bound to happen again with the actual geographical location....

 

[panda08]

Frankly, I don''t mind if those people make a conscious decision to stay. It''s their perogative to take whatever risks they want. What annoys me is when, after making their decision to stay and disaster is upon them, they want to get rescued. I get that people can be emotional but it''s totally selfish to put other people''s lives at risk and use up precious resources all because of their own irrational choices. Hey, if you were warned, had a chance to get out, and you chose not to leave, fine. But if you want to get rescued when the fire/hurricane/flood/etc. is raging, you''ll just have to wait while more important things are taken care of first.

 

[Erin]

Date: 1/22/2010 12:08:12 PM
Author: oobiecoo

Absolutely! I also think we (society, government, etc) coddle the idiots way too much!

Don''t you mean mollycoddle?

 

[Smurfysmiles]

Date: 1/22/2010 12:14:50 PM
Author: IloveAsschers13

Date: 1/22/2010 11:21:38 AM

Author: swimmer

I believe that Gypsy was talking about the owners of mansions on the cliffs of Malibu...if you have 40mill to drop on a house, you can go to the Holiday Inn. This is different from Katrina. Very Very Very different.

This is different then Hurricane Katrina... BUT who thought it would be a great idea to have a city surrounded by a river and a lake UNDER SEA LEVEL? It''s bound to happen again with the actual geographical location....

It does happen- every year in north dakota. It''s called the Red River Valley and everything floods every year. By this time people have learned to deal with it so it doesn''t make the news anymore. Hundreds of years ago there was a lake where the valley is now called Lake Agassiz. Kind of weird to think about...but it too was under sea level I believe.

 

[Novel]

Date: 1/22/2010 1:18:51 PM
Author: Smurfyimproved

Date: 1/22/2010 12:14:50 PM

Author: IloveAsschers13

Date: 1/22/2010 11:21:38 AM


Author: swimmer


I believe that Gypsy was talking about the owners of mansions on the cliffs of Malibu...if you have 40mill to drop on a house, you can go to the Holiday Inn. This is different from Katrina. Very Very Very different.

This is different then Hurricane Katrina... BUT who thought it would be a great idea to have a city surrounded by a river and a lake UNDER SEA LEVEL? It''s bound to happen again with the actual geographical location....

It does happen- every year in north dakota. It''s called the Red River Valley and everything floods every year. By this time people have learned to deal with it so it doesn''t make the news anymore. Hundreds of years ago there was a lake where the valley is now called Lake Agassiz. Kind of weird to think about...but it too was under sea level I believe.

There are a lot of parts of the country that are disabled by flooding or snow every year, but I agree, building in the first places in those places was human folly (I mean, hello, the Everglades?!).

Thanks, Swimmer. I know she was, I guess I''ve just heard or seen a lot of discussions lately about Haiti that verged on really awful and remember the same thing from Katrina, so wanted to be clear that wasn''t an undertone here.

Speaking of which, have you guys ever heard about (or, OMG, experienced) the debris flows in LA? Where the house and car, whole areas, would get washed away by giant tree/rock/dirt slides? What is craziest is yes, people rebuilding there.

 

[HopeDream]

It''s only Darwin''s Theory at work if these danger-desensatized individuals don''t have kids before they perish.
If their offspring survive then the disaster-prone condition (provided it''s inherited) will continue until the famaly line dies out (perhaps never).

I don''t get why people hang around in dangerous conditions - first sign of danger and I''m outta there. Chicken? yes. Still alive and healthy? also yes.
Maybe they value their material posessions over the joy of being alive?

 

[yssie]

Date: 1/22/2010 11:00:25 AM
Author: Tacori E-ring
I agree with Perry. I only realized recently how dysfunctional most people are. Not everyone has common sense to make sane and rational decisions. Sad though.

pretty much.

 

[luv2sparkle]

People never think the bad stuff will happen to them. Otherwise, people wouldn''t do any behavior that could possible cause them harm.

The problem with the evacuations is that once you are out, they don''t let you back in. Even after the danger has passed, the authorities have to cover their butts. They don''t
care how much this is costing you. Every person must be able to decide for themselves if the risk is worth it or not. Do we really want government dictating everything
in our lives?

We have done both. When there was only one way out down a mountain that was on fire, we left early and stayed out for 3 weeks. Where we live now, we probably wouldn''t
evacuate. We have a pool and a pump and foam for our house. Also, our area offers multiple ways of getting out if necessary. I wouldn''t expect or ask someone to come
and save me.

 

[Gypsy]

According to the news last summer. Two people in pool (or jacuzzi), boiled. I can only hope they asphixiated for their sakes first. I didn't have the stomach to look up the details. And it has stuck in my mind for over 6 months.

And yes, for the most part the people I'm speaking of can go to the Ritz. The ones who build their houses on some of the most brainless sights (unless you just want the view) tend to have a ton of money out here. The rest of us are inland. In apartments. And while there might be minor flooding... I don't think many would consider hanging out in the pool when the fires are a ranging as a smart choice. And I agree, those that decide-- let's re-build (especially perched on the side of an eroding hill) do take the prize. How do they get insurance for that, I wonder?

This has been a nice thread everyone. Thanks for letting me vent.

 

[luckystar112]

My favorite was that old Laguna Beach episode on MTV. A huge mudslide had just happened and all of the teens formed a fashion show/fundraiser to help them. Granted I have no idea if any "commoners" lost their houses, but the show made it seem like they were trying to raise money for people to rebuild their million dollar homes.