Ask Dr. Helen: Preparing for Disaster — Prudent or Paranoid?
I guess in my family, my wife and I are first responders. So we have our camping stuff available and I keep a clean trashcan full of water on the back porch for my fish tanks, so we are set for water too.
I used to wonder what I would do if I knew a car was going to hit me. I mentally rehearsed jumping up to sit on the hood and slide up the windshield. The tricky part I figured would be landing!
Sure enough, decades later, I was walking out of a cigar store when a compact car started bearing down on me. When it got close, I jumped up, sat on the hood, and slid across. I even stuck the landing! (easy because I just slid across the hood) I did not recall my youthfull preparation until after the driver tried to fuss at me for denting his hood.
Preparation becomes paranoia when it loses perscpetive and becomes intrusive. When it works, it is A OK.
Trey
