What do you put in a Go-Bag?

from w
In Sydney the residents are receiving pamphlets from the Sydney City Council advising them to BE PREPARED by selecting important items to put into a GO BAG! Just in case of an earthquake, a tsunami, a terrorist attack!!! Be prepared, be scared. The construction of fear is happening even in our laid back Oz society. Is it one back-pack per family, or one for each person?

I wonder what they want people to put into their backpacks. It surely ain't the same for an eighty-year-old and a young mum. Essential pills?

I have thought about a situation where there could be an urgency to leave house but haven't actually packed anything. (We live near an animal health laboratory where they do very strange tests.) The Sydney Council experts reckon toilet paper and sunscreen would be essential. Huh? It's snowing today in them there hills today. I think a little radio and batteries would come first, pens and sketchbook, spare spectacles. Basic first-aid. ID information perhaps. A small book of photos. One spare lot of clothes. Bottle of water. Chewing gum rather than a toothbrush. Cherry Ripe. Bank card? Soon we would have a whole case full of 'essentials'.

One time when there were bushfires near Sydney I saw a photo of people getting into a boat loaded with furniture including upright lamps.

What about street people - like the Choir of Hard Knocks kind of people? What do they pack? Check out the list provided on the Sydney council website about the go-bag. They also suggest you put your pet moggie in a pillow case. I'd like to see that!

What would you pack in a GO BAG?