Some funny and some interesting posts...
Now, although this thread is somewhat light-hearted, there is also a serious element to this, which iguanamon touched on. It extends beyond language learning, but given it's our common ground here and something I love personally (and many of us do), and that I suspect the situation in our world currently is quite vulnerable, 'being prepared' is actually something I've been contemplating with regards to my life and that of my family's and of course my language learning.
I don't have any solar chargers... yet. I don't have a stockpile of food nor a kindle, nor... well... I'm not prepared, like the majority of humanity, I'd assume.
There's some wisdom in being prepared, even if just a little. I don't know about you, but I'd be left pretty bloody helpless should 'the system go down', paper/plastic/digital money suddenly be worthless and the supermarkets having been raided and empty. I actually do sincerely believe there's a higher chance of such a thing happening in the coming handful of years than has been the case in recent history. I'm not saying I feel it's absolutely going to happen, but given a higher risk (my opinion), being at least a little prepared doesn't hurt, right? And if you don't want to be a little more prepared because you feel at ease and are an apocalypse denier
, at least we'll know who'll be winning the first Super Challenge and several 6 Week Challenges post apocalypse, right?
One day while driving to the supermarket, and perhaps many of us have pondered this too, it just dawned on me that it seemed to be a very vulnerable situation that many of us exist in, living in towns or cities and if needing essentials we rely on the supermarkets, their supply lines, wholesalers, food production and so on to get our hands on the things we need. We always assume those things will be there when we need them. While perfectly understandable, a society of convenience means we have little ability to create our own food. We survive through the organisations and companies that exist around us. We are not independent. We are ants in a big machine and if the machine breaks down we're seemingly helpless. How do you function post apocalypse being de-skilled, lacking survival techniques and being ill-prepared?
So, system down, can you regain your independence and how do your language learning prospects look? I've no food stored, yet I have been building on my paper-based language learning resources. I've got my priorities in order, right?