Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.
“How do I meet up with other like-minded individuals?”
That’s a question that pops up from time to time. Trouble is, you don’t want to ‘out yourself’ to someone thinking that they are of like mind and then find out that they aren’t. You’ve then tipped your hand and now someone else is going to start their tongue wagging about that ‘survivalist guy’ who chatted him up in the elevator at work. When it comes to networking, it seems like being a survivalist is like being gay – you don’t want others to know who you are, but at the same time you cant meet others like yourself unless you are willing to risk tipping your hand.
I mention it because I just had one of those serendipitous meetings. Here’s how it unfolded:
Im at the post office standing in line to use the automated postal center (sort of a postal ATM for getting stamps and such.) I notice the older gentleman in front of me has a small radio on his belt. I can see the display and it appears this isn’t some sort of FRS radio but a Yaseu of some fashion. My curiosity is piqued and since I have nothing better to do standing in line I look more closely. He’s wearing jeans, a forest green button shirt, and light hiking boots. His belt is leather, but not heavy enough for a gun belt. I figured the radio was a work thing or somesuch, but its my experience that people into preparedness usually have some outward manifestations of it…usually in the way we dress or the crap we carry on our belts. Casually, I ask “Is that a little 2-meter radio”? He says “Yup.” And goes back to getting his postage. Not too talkative, I figure, so I continue waiting in line. When he’s done he turns to me and says “Are you a ham radio guy?” I say that, no, Im not but my wife is and that she’d probably like to have a little radio like that. He says he and his friends are in a group and have them ‘for emergencies and preparedness’. As you can imagine, the little light bulb went off in my head. No kidding, I say, I think we may both be kind of like-minded individuals in that regard. We make some very meaningless and vague small talk and I know exactly what’s happening here..we’re sizing each other up. Is the other guy really ‘one of us’? I said that it sounded like we had the same interests. I said that I had a few friends who were into the same things, buying & selling silver (he seemed to perk up a bit at that) and that I had a line for selling freezedrieds. As the conversation winds down he gives me his name and number and says to call him sometime. He wishes me a happy 4th of July. I tell him Im planning on spending it at the range like I do every Patriots Day and Independence Day. He moves in closer (because there are a few other people who have come into the post office and are standing around) that he and his friends will spend it ‘training’ (his words) at an indoor range they have. He also told me of a forum that they keep, which I had to hunt down a bit because he misspoke the URL – BSOSCBlog.com
Interesting stuff. I think I may have run across a few of these guys at the Hamilton gun show a time or two.
