I couldn’t get access to the server so that I could post my latest update this morning. It wasn’t my computer… I could access the rest of the Internet. It was a little frustrating. Things were not going as I planned because someone or something else was not holding up their end. It wasn’t my fault… But as I thought about it, I realized that I take so much for granted… things will work… people will do their jobs. Or not.
How many of us have backup plans? What if the electricity fails? Do we have a standby generator? What if the water main breaks? Do we have an emergency water supply? What if the natural gas supply is interrupted? Do we have a way to heat the house? For most of us the answers are “no”, “no”, and “no”.
The Boy Scout motto is “Be Prepared”. Yet the vast majority of us are not prepared for the unusual. We presume that things will work and people will do their jobs. And, most of the time, we are correct. Some of use do back up our computer files, especially after we’ve gone through the experience of a computer drive failing. We try to have savings enough to get us by when unexpected expenses arise. But we are generally inept when it comes to crisis planning.
Why is that? Why do we expect that things will work and people will do their jobs? Because we are conditioned by our experiences. We expect that if there is a crisis, those who are responsible for making things work will get them to work again. The electric company will repair the power grid. The water department will get the main repaired. The gas company will restore the supply. But what if those who are supposed to fix things can’t? What will you DO?
So, I prepare this update and wait for the server to become accessible again.
And it does.
