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I am absolutely baffled that someone would down-vote this comment. I don't understand. I would love for someone to actually match their down-vote with an expl

I am absolutely baffled that someone would down-vote this comment. I don't understand. I would love for someone to actually match their down-vote with an explanation. Maybe there's something to be learned there. Having lived through at least a couple of important earthquakes in the Los Angeles region I can tell you, without a shadow of a doubt, you do not want to wait until the last minute to get ready for any kind of an out of the norm situation. Then there's the question of what would constitute responsible behavior in the event of COVID-19 getting more serious in the US. I would guess this would, at a minimum, include preparing to stay home for somewhere around 30 to 45 days, particularly considering that we are starting to think the incubation period could be as long as 27 days. And so, from this perspective alone --that of being a responsible citizen-- I am not equipped to understand someone who would down-vote advise to prepare for 30 to 45 days of at-home isolation.

SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
Preparing to stay at home is reasonable. Expecting for no stores to be open isn't - even in Wuhan, stores have been open and selling essential goods.
- rasz 7y ago
  What good is an open store when your door is welded shut and hourly police patrols prohibit anyone from going out?
- robomartin 7y ago
  Riddle me this one: If EVERYONE stays home, how do stores remain open? Do we think they are run by robots? I try to use language with some degree of precision. I said "assume no stores will be open during that time". ASSUME, not "stores will definitely be closed during that time". Assume, as a part of planning, not categorically know, because the assumption will make for better planning. It is far safer to make this assumption and be wrong, than to discover not making the assumption was a mistake. In the first case you end-up with extra food and supplies you did not need and will simply consume over several months (or donate to the Red Cross, which would be fantastic). In the other case you and your family could suffer greatly due to being utterly unprepared. Maybe it's my aerospace background...I have learned the hard way that ignoring potential failure modes and corner cases is the mother of all fuck-ups.
  - SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
    There's always some risk that infrastructure will catastrophically fail, and in general I think a month-long self-sufficiency stock is a perfectly reasonable thing to have. (I have one myself, although primarily because I live in an earthquake zone.) But when people are reacting to the coronavirus, the implicit question isn't what preparations are good to have for general worst case scenarios; it's which preparations you're likely to need, which ones you can no longer afford to be without. As many a doomsday prepper will attest, there's always one more contingency you could plan for, but telling people to start with extreme measures makes it less likely they'll plan at all.
    - robomartin 7y ago
      You are over-complicating simple advice that is perfectly reasonable and not extreme at all: Assume stores will be closed. Plan accordingly. Be glad if things don't play out that way. No harm done. Not difficult. Not extreme. Not a big deal. Just reasonable assumptions and planning in the face of what could be a very serious event in human history.
      - v0tary 7y ago
        I have to agree here with robomartin. Stores might be open or they might not. Even though there is large chance they might remain open - they will almost certainly be overrun if this were to go into panic mode. I can't even buy dust masks at my local home improvement store as they are out of stock. And that's not even a necessity! Nothing wrong in being prepared for an emergency.
        robomartin 7y ago
        Exactly. It makes me really wonder about these people who savagely down-vote stuff like this on HN. Are they so out of touch with reality? Or is it just a fun sport of sort. There's a strain of people on HN that love down-voting anything that is common sense. As if that single click will take reality and make it align with the way they would like the universe to exist. It's laughable at best, and very very sad. I don't really care about points but it is interesting to see how certain things are not debated and just stomped on and anything that aligns with the cargo cult is supported. Here's news from Italy that very much applies to what I've been saying: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australians-in-italy-s-coronavirus-hit-region-describe-apocalypse-era-conditions https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australians-in-italy-s-coronavir... As you said, there's nothing wrong to prepare for an emergency. And, by definition, you have to do it before the need arises. I have no interest in having to fight though desperate mobs to get food for my kids. I pretty much got everything we need to shelter in place for about 60 days now, including medicine, masks, etc. I also got extra supplies to be able to help neighbors who might not be as prepared as we are. I guess I am an evil person for suggesting this and acting this way. So sorry.

SpicyLemonZest 7y ago

Preparing to stay at home is reasonable. Expecting for no stores to be open isn't - even in Wuhan, stores have been open and selling essential goods.

rasz 7y ago
What good is an open store when your door is welded shut and hourly police patrols prohibit anyone from going out?
robomartin 7y ago
Riddle me this one: If EVERYONE stays home, how do stores remain open? Do we think they are run by robots? I try to use language with some degree of precision. I said "assume no stores will be open during that time". ASSUME, not "stores will definitely be closed during that time". Assume, as a part of planning, not categorically know, because the assumption will make for better planning. It is far safer to make this assumption and be wrong, than to discover not making the assumption was a mistake. In the first case you end-up with extra food and supplies you did not need and will simply consume over several months (or donate to the Red Cross, which would be fantastic). In the other case you and your family could suffer greatly due to being utterly unprepared. Maybe it's my aerospace background...I have learned the hard way that ignoring potential failure modes and corner cases is the mother of all fuck-ups.
- SpicyLemonZest 7y ago
  There's always some risk that infrastructure will catastrophically fail, and in general I think a month-long self-sufficiency stock is a perfectly reasonable thing to have. (I have one myself, although primarily because I live in an earthquake zone.) But when people are reacting to the coronavirus, the implicit question isn't what preparations are good to have for general worst case scenarios; it's which preparations you're likely to need, which ones you can no longer afford to be without. As many a doomsday prepper will attest, there's always one more contingency you could plan for, but telling people to start with extreme measures makes it less likely they'll plan at all.
  - robomartin 7y ago
    You are over-complicating simple advice that is perfectly reasonable and not extreme at all: Assume stores will be closed. Plan accordingly. Be glad if things don't play out that way. No harm done. Not difficult. Not extreme. Not a big deal. Just reasonable assumptions and planning in the face of what could be a very serious event in human history.
    - v0tary 7y ago
      I have to agree here with robomartin. Stores might be open or they might not. Even though there is large chance they might remain open - they will almost certainly be overrun if this were to go into panic mode. I can't even buy dust masks at my local home improvement store as they are out of stock. And that's not even a necessity! Nothing wrong in being prepared for an emergency.
      - robomartin 7y ago
        Exactly. It makes me really wonder about these people who savagely down-vote stuff like this on HN. Are they so out of touch with reality? Or is it just a fun sport of sort. There's a strain of people on HN that love down-voting anything that is common sense. As if that single click will take reality and make it align with the way they would like the universe to exist. It's laughable at best, and very very sad. I don't really care about points but it is interesting to see how certain things are not debated and just stomped on and anything that aligns with the cargo cult is supported. Here's news from Italy that very much applies to what I've been saying: https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australians-in-italy-s-coronavirus-hit-region-describe-apocalypse-era-conditions https://www.sbs.com.au/news/australians-in-italy-s-coronavir... As you said, there's nothing wrong to prepare for an emergency. And, by definition, you have to do it before the need arises. I have no interest in having to fight though desperate mobs to get food for my kids. I pretty much got everything we need to shelter in place for about 60 days now, including medicine, masks, etc. I also got extra supplies to be able to help neighbors who might not be as prepared as we are. I guess I am an evil person for suggesting this and acting this way. So sorry.