Mutual aid, living alone edition

[sonia]

Crisis Planning: The Hit-By-A-Bus Plan by lb_lee.

The hit-by-a-bus plan is for when you are suddenly unable to perform your usual duties or communicate the need to get them done to others—such as when you are suddenly committed to a mental hospital, kidnapped, or hit by a bus and put in a coma. The plan is especially for people without spouse or families. Getting hit by a bus may be unavoidable, but less so is getting fired (or a pet dying) because you aren’t there and nobody knows what happened or what to do. It has two components: prep work for yourself (for psychological crisis), and stuff for helpers to do on your behalf afterward (general purpose).

This is a great post. I find it overwhelming to try to set all of this up at once. I might take small steps, like giving my immediate neighbors an emergency contact's phone number.

For those of us who have pets, having a pet sitter who already knows the situation and can get in if needed is useful in an unexpected absence.

Declaration of Interdependence by queerspacepunk (aka emmett) via jesse_the_k. I love this vision of easy interconnectedness, although a followup post brings up the need for clear communication and respect for boundaries as well.

I recently went through, "Where the heck is my neighbor and how do I make sure his cat gets fed." (All ended well, thank goodness.) While it might feel vulnerable to share information and ask for help, it's a kindness rather than an imposition to the surrounding community in case of unexpected emergencies.

Comments

[sonia]

Oof, that's a lot of availability! And to me, calling the police sounds more like a threat than like assistance. Hopefully it will all work out in the long run.

[tozka]

Yeah, it's tied to my mom's general inability to, like...not freak out when something unexpected or bad happens. I'm also moving time zones fairly frequently and that's another stumbling block. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of us all having smart phones is the expectation that we'll constantly be connected or connectable within a certain time frame.