ParamedicPete ... well said my friend. Sometimes our own pets teach us a lesson in humanity and humility.

I think that Americans are cautious about getting stopped by the "authorities" in a disaster zone for a variety of reasons. Not all the arguments are bad.

For one thing, a lot of very worried parents are going to be trying to get home as quickly as possible - esp. if they have children at some form of daycare. Mothers and fathers who are stressed out about their kids - are not always in a calm frame of mind. And for those of you who don't have kids ... parents are under a lot of pressure these days. Typically you need to pitck up your kids from day care by some specific time. You may get fined $$ by these caregivers, if you are even 10 minutes late. Who knows what these care givers are going to do in a major earthquake - will they even still be there??? These kinds of thoughts tend to stress out parents. So you can see why some people who are doing a "bug out" may not be Rambo's. They're just Moms and Dads.

Also, Americans are aware that the State Dept. contracted Blackwater to provide some security operations during the problem with Katrina in New Orleans. I really have no idea exactly what the folks working for Blackwater did. Maybe they were assigned to guard sensitive installations - which could be a totally valid operation. But I don't think that we would feel all that good about Blackwater people manning standard checkpoints around our city. That is not going to go over well. I would personally feel a lot better about my local police enforcing street security - because I feel like I can talk to those guys and they would understand my situation. Who knows who is setting the ROE (Rules of Engagement) for Blackwater??? So this could cause some ordinary civilians to either not cooperate, or probably to just try to avoid security checkpoints.

[and yeah ... I know that Blackwater isn't called Blackwater any more. But it's still the same guys].

Common sense still prevails. If your goal is to SURVIVE, it's not a good idea to put up resistance at a checkpoint in a disaster zone. You could get shot. That reduces your survival chances a LOT !

other Pete