Monday, June 27, 2011

How I'd survive the Apocalypse

The other day, we had an unnerving realization. Now usually, the Other DeLew and I talk about a lot of important things, (like world events, wine, living in community, insert cool/socially conscientious buzz word here.) But this revelation came from a mundane conversation about our car. Recently we’ve noticed a clanking sound from beneath our car. Like something is loose. The last time I was at the auto shop, the mechanic removed a rusty bar from the bottom of our car and told me that it’s just an unnecessary scrap of metal that holds the muffler in place. But I’m sure that ‘lack of rusty bar’ isn’t causing the clanking… Right?

I asked Mark if he had any ideas about what might be clanking. Mark replied, “of course I have no idea what it might be.” We both laughed at how little we know about cars, home improvement (one of the main reasons we’re not itching to buy a home), gardening, or really anything that involves hard labor. At this point, Mark said, “You know, if the apocalypse happened, we’d be the first to get kicked out of the surviving community. We don’t have any hard skills!”

(At this point the conversation turned into a debate about zombies. I, personally, don’t like them and think they’re stupid. As a result, Mark was defending the zombies. Maturity reigns over here.

Back to the matter at hand: in high school I went on mission trips to Mexico where my team built houses for Mexican families. Mind you, I wasn’t the most adept at using a hammer or nail gun, and neither were most of my teammates. Few of had ever seen a, well, I don’t even know any tool names to use as an example. A henchsaw? Let’s go with that. We were really eager to serve, but I’m not sure if serving with a hammer was the best use of our skills. In fact, I’m pretty sure there were a couple of locals who knew a thing or two about construction who may be willing to work … I better explore this topic in another post.

All this to say, I started thinking about what value I could bring to a post-apocalyptic world in which we were fighting off zombies. I could manage a project, facilitate clear communication processes, write a pretty convincing letter to the Zombie King requesting that he be generous with us and let us live. All of this sounds pretty lame when you’re fighting for survival with swords and bayonets (this is my picture of post-apocalyptic living). But I actually think those things would be important! I think it would help the community survive and perhaps thrive!

Sometimes it’s hard to see how our specific gifts can be of use. But I’m convinced that we have all been given gifts for the good of the community. We all have our unique skills and passions, and it’s through identifying and nurturing them that we might be able to make our community stronger. And together, we may in fact survive the Apocalypse.

4 comments:

  1. I love this Emily. Sometimes I can't see how my gifts can be used either but all gifts are important!

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  2. Em,

    Your post got me thinking. Here are the assets I could offer a post-apocalyptic community terrorized by zombies:

    1-a wine education course
    2-cutting kitchen tile
    3-exhaustive knowledge of all 9 episodes of Seinfeld
    4-gin gimlets for everyone!

    I really can't think of anything else.

    Hapless in Oakland,
    Stephen

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  3. Emily and Mark,
    I appreciate the deep conversation which the clanking of your car served as the catalyst for. However, how do you plan to cultivate other sets of skills which might contribute to your survival in a doomsday scenario? I appreciate the fact that your skills might contribute to the survival of the human community, but it is vital to remember that most apocalypse situations center around the irascible individualism of the situation. What would happen if there is no community for you to contribute to?

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  4. We all know that last post was yours, Adam. May I pose a counter-question: is it possible to imagine a human existence without the existence of community?

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