Saw this posted on another forum, about the St. Louis storm & blackout:

<<On the other hand, first friend I mentioned was at work and en-route to home when the storm hit (luckily! he usually parks right where the tree fell) He gets home to his apartment and his girlfriend is sitting on the stairs crying her eyes out "I didn't know what to do! The lights are all out! I didn't know how to reach you! (temporary cell phone outages) I couldn't get any money from the ATM!"

He says, "Well, let me break out my kit." So he pulls his 30 gallon Rubbermaid bin, digs some candles and a couple of flashlights. Says, "You're not dressed properly if we have to do any walking. Here's some blue jeans that should fit you and here's some tennis shoes -- might be a bit big, but better than flip-flops. I've got some sleeping bags if you want to spend the night someplace else. I can heat up some backpacking food if you're hungry. Oh, and I always keep some cash on hand, let's see ...I've got about $200..."

His girl friend interrupted sarcastically, really agitated, "Oh yeah, you must be Mr. Big Time Preparedness! You're just loving this! You're just reveling in all this survivalist stuff!" >>

I think I would have grabbed my kit and turned on my heel.