Hi,

Maybe it's because I'm an only marginally prepared female, but given the limited amount of information in the post, I think that both the guy and his GF were out of line. The GF was unprepared, so shame on her. But a lot of what the guy says is showing off and annoying and *not* helpful, so shame on him too.

So there's a blackout. So his GF is at his apartment and doesn't know what to do. So why the heck does the guy start talking about having to do some walking? Why can't they just hang out at his apartment? Why the heck does the guy offer a sleeping bag for sleeping "someplace else"? Even if they're not that close, he should have a sofa in his apartment, right? Why isn't he offering to let her spend the night there?

He's reveling in having all this preparedness stuff and wants to show it off, even though (based on the limited info in the post) much of the stuff is irrelevant to the actual scenario, and isn't helpful. GF sees this and is rightfully annoyed.

Being prepared is part having stuff on hand, and part knowing what to do (or not do) with it when an emergency situation occurs. It sounds like this guy has the first part down, but needs work on the second.

How about this for a different approach.
"Okay, I'm here now, calm down. I've got some stuff to help us out. Here are some flashlights. How much cash do you need? Here. You can spend the night here if you like. Are you hungry? I'm hungry. I'll cook this. While I'm cooking, let's turn on my radio to see if we can get some news. ..."

Now, maybe there's more to the scenario that would change my opinion and make his actions make more chivalrous. But as is, I think that both parties could have behaved better.

-Kuovonne