Personal

Panic and Nervous Fear

I was born in 1971, so I've not known scenes like this before. Just three days without fuel and there's a nervous forboding everywhere. I worked from home the first two days of the "crisis", so missed the gradual development of the situation. Driving to work today (I have about 120 miles of fuel left in my car), I passed one petrol station still dispensing fuel, albeit to "Regular Customers Only". On the way home it was shut - whether through lack of fuel or end of usual working hours I don't know. (I'm not a Regular Customer.)

Almost all petrol stations in the country are now dry. We're being advised to park in garages and ward against theives siphoning fuel from our tanks. Public transport use is reportedly up; my local bus company has cut back services and says it may not have enough diesel to run any services tomorrow. My local railway service is diesel operated too; by the end of the week it's possible that the only route out of my small town will be on-foot.

On the news this evening we see that although Ambulances have sufficient fuel, they are rendered useless as drivers are unable to report for work. We hear of "panic buying": rationing of bread and milk in some supermarkets. (Just yesterday on trying to stock up a little, I found bread hard-to-come-by in the town.)

With transport networks knocked out and food running low, I wonder what will happen next. This is an entirely artificial crisis. A handful of protesters are responsible for the fuel shortage. I suspect they too will feel the pinch in a couple of days and change to a different tactic.

But I'm a pessimistic guy... I like to think things through.

As my stock levels recede, and with shops unable to refill my shelves, the £150 I impulsively withdrew yesterday (fearing a shortage of cash deliveries to banks) won't help me at all. My garden is a patch of concrete which could scarcely help provide - had I ever thought to plant for myself. Looking to my neighbours wouldn't help: as many tend to these days, I pretty much keep to myself.

So what? Would I start eating trees? Turn to crime perhaps? Ah, I really don't want to know... this thinking has gone far enough.

But I can't help remembering. Under a year ago some were predicting the new year would herald in much worse a scenario than this. Failing computer systems, they said, would cripple not just this one, but many of the country's vital support systems. We thought it'd take a month or two...

Under a week into this crisis I'm scared, I'm lonely, and I've had enough. Is the world we've built around us really so fragile? Are we really this dependent on the systems we've built?