The Story Of Generators – How The Power Came Into Being
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at
12:00 am
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Filed under: Portable Generators
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Neighbors behavior during an Emergency…am I looking at this wrong?
To make a long story short myself and wife have prepared over the past few years for emergency’s.
Two years ago we bought a back-up gas powered generator and food and water supplies for 2 Months (if we had to).
We also stored 25 gallons of gasoline in an outbuilding behind our house.
Well 3 Months ago a storm came through and everyone was without electric for 10 full days, stores were closed, no gas, nothing!
I brought the generator into my garage and started it up, it can handle over 15 outlets plus run our water heater for hot showers and kept our refrigorator & freezer going and we could watch TV and have a few lights on at night. It’s nice one that we paid $1600 for.
Well anyway as a gesture we offered the neighbors on both side of us an extension cord to hook-up at least one appliance in their home and they took us up on that…they both wern’t very prepared so we offered them both one pallet of water each day (24 per pack 12 oz waters) we have over 150 stored up plus 100 (1) gallon jugs. We store all of this in a room in our basement. We also gave them numerous can of food, vegs, fruit, canned hams, powdered milk etc.
We also invited them to take showers at our house and they did everyday.
During the emergency none of them offered to donate gasoline, I asked if they could and both said they had to keep what they had…(we were giving them ours) not one gallon would they give up. One the 4th day I said I was going on a gas run in a neighboring city that had gas (35 miles aways) none of them offered to help pay for the gas or even go to help.
AFTER it was all over some 10 days later…NOT one even offered to pay us for our help…repay the gas, food nothing!
I feel a little slighted…I’m kinda offened….am I missing something here.
Not one even said…………thanks
is this me?
people are @ssholes
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sorry you have very inconsiderate neighbors. I suggest next time, do not offer to help them out at all.
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In future, refuse to help them now that you know what kind of people they’re like and in this case, no good deed goes unpunished. Shame on them.
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it is hard to believe that they wouldn’t offer some kind of repayment.
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I would feel offended by that too.
It sounds like you have asked repeately for a little help and they have given none.
The best thing for you to do may be to just not offer to help any more – or you run the risk of ending up in a Homer Simpson vs. Ned Flanders situation!
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Don’t ever do that again. Thank you for being nice, but they didn’t appreciate it.
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If you do not mind, where do you live? Do you live in the mountains or in the country away from a big city or town? Anyways, you have a right to be upset. You put your heart out there and you were very polite. I commend you for that. You shouldn’t have to ask for help. They should offer it. BTW, good job on the emergency planning!
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You were generous and your neighbors took advantage. Next time I would re-think how I help.
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me
wat goes by comes by,relax u have done good,it will come back to u and they shall also get wat they deserved,u r good,so dont botherthough shall u sow though shall u reap,god will check it out wen he needs to,keep doing the good work,may god bless u and surely will
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I don’t blame you for feeling that way. I probably would too. But it sounds like you offered help to them as a good gesture. They shouldn’t feel obligated to repay you (and they obviously don’t).
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No its not you. They were using your stuff everyday and that in its self at least deserves a huge THANK YOU. If I were your neighbor and I didn’t have enough money to help you pay for all of the gas used I would at least make you a nice gift basket or give you a gift card to a local place. That is very rude and sometimes it takes something like that to realize maybe you are being taken advantage of.
Remember for next time and when they need your help you wont have enough gas, or you wont have a generator for them to hook up to.
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Oh holy bejeebus – not even THANKS!!!!
Seriously, I’d move.
Next storm I’m thinkin’ you’re the first house they visit in order to hit you over the head and take all your stuff.
WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!
Unless, you’re like a billionaire who’s also a douchebag with dogs barking all night long and crazy helicopters landing on your lawn all hours of the day an night….well…..
Are u Trump?
Cause if you’re not Trump or P Diddy than it’s just wrong.
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They used you for your kindness and took advantage. Shame on them. Next time don’t be so willing to help. Let them know about it too.
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No, this isn’t just you, I’d be friggin pissed!
You and your wife put out a lot of money, time, and forethought into being prepared and your neighbors took advantage of that.
I think that you should tell them how you feel. Sit down with them rationally and explain to them the trouble you and your wife went to to be prepared and how it obviously came in handy after the storm. Tell them that they obviously benefited from your preparedness and were very selfish in not offering to pay you back in some way for your expense and trouble and that next time an emergency hits, that they had better be as prepared as you because it’s not worth it to support such ungrateful people.
Maybe if they go through another 10 days without any power OR your help, then they’ll learn that they need to be prepared because in an emergency, sometimes the only person you can rely on is yourself.
Good luck
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Aren’t folk quick to forget. Some People just dont care. you and your wife are great people to help out
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Unfortunately, you’re one of the few reliable, caring people on this planet. You can’t depend on anyone else- they’ll just use you and do nothing in return. But please, don’t stop helping. The world needs people like you
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I wouldn’t offer them a single thing ever again in my life.
I’d probably even consider moving away from them.
They are pathetic, worthless people!
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Well, the least you could do is adopt them at this point…they seem to be helpless and unable to fend for themselves and you have parented them well.
Seriously….I wouldn’t offer too much of anything next time. You were WAAAY too generous with them.
You might want to check at the library for books about "codependency". You fit the definition. (Not to be mean…).
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You invited them to do that and you did that out of the kindness of your heart right? You didn’t say well y’all can use this and pay me some money on it. They should have said Thanks so much for your help,but you shouldn’t expect them to give you money on something you invited them to do. Yeah it would have been nice of them to give you some money for the kindness that you gave them but that’s how life is. Next time if your trying to do a good deed don’t expect to get payed for it. The most rewarding is knowing that you helped your neighbors when they needed it the most.
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No. People used to have to depend on each other for protection and other things so they used to be more like extended families. Now, people move around too much for those kind of bonds, not to mention the you can’t trust anybody mentality that has become the norm. Yeah, they walked all over your generosity. You have to decide if they are worth helping again. Good neighbors are hard to find any more. You are a good neighbor. They are not. I’m afraid you got the point, and the shaft.
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Life liberty and the pursuit of being a good neighbor.
These people are inconsiderate jerks. They’re out for what they can get. No sense of neighborliness.
Here’s the thing: you sound like survivalists (sorry, not sure if that’s the right word or even if it’s considered negative–no offense intended). Is it possible that in your neighbors’ eyes you’re the ‘weird’ neighbors? Maybe they don’t respect you.
The next time this happens (and it will happen again), don’t offer them goodies. If they come and say they need something (and no one _needs_ shower water, by the way), you can give it to them.
I would be delighted to have neighbors like you. If you had given me all this stuff I would have insisted on replacing it and invited you over for the world’s best dinner, once the power came back on. I would have given you a beautiful thank you card and I would also have asked your advice on what kind of generator to buy for myself. (I can live without TV and electric lights, but I hate the thought of all my food going bad.)
And then–because I like writing and sharing knowledge–I would have written a freelance article for the local paper. I would have interviewed people about their experiences during the power outage and (with your permission) explained how you coped so well.
And–seriously–my whole family is like this, so when I told my mom on the phone about how you helped me out SHE would have written you a thank you letter, too!
But, going forward: don’t hold it against these people. They won’t change, but it doesn’t need to be on your mind. As long as they’re not kicking your cat or keying your car, you can live with them.
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