Do you remember the old time bomb/storm/fruit shelters? Do you feel like you are living in one now?-only above ground?-trapped?

Aneeda72

Aneeda72

Well-known Member
I am so bored.

I remember when a neighbor build a bomb shelter, filled it with food, books etc. In case they had to live in it for a while. So many opinions on shelters, on wether to build or not build, live above ground and take a chance on dying or live underground for a long period of time. Trapped.

I often feel trapped. Go out, take a chance on catching the virus and dying. Stay in, die of boredom. There is no good answer just a slow lessening of thought and reason. Unable to concentrate cause I just want to go out and have pancakes at my favorite place which is closed. I dream of breakfast out. I wake up and think we should go out to breakfast. Then I remember.

What do you dream of doing when normal returns?
 

During this crisis, I'm glad we live in the country. Now that nice weather is here, I have a Long list of things to do, and that helps a bunch. We miss getting together with the kids and grandkids....and, of course, our trips to the casinos. Quite frankly, I am Not too confident about seeing things return to "normal" until there is a widely disseminated vaccine....and that could be a year, or more.
 
Good analogy. Right, it is the same thing. Except we do not have to go underground. Those of us who have shelter and food should feel blessed. Are we bored? Yes. Are we safe? Sure.
My grandparents lived through the pandemic in 1918. This is what it was like. My grandmother had a fruit cellar down stairs in the basement
 
I’ve been a homebody since I sold my car. Hearing and believing this virus will kill oldsters
with underlying problems, it makes sense my wife and I avoid catching this virus. And hearing
the virus could come cack next fall. And realizing we still know very little about this virus, it is possible she and I may never get out and about again. We are dependent on our son for our
groceries and necessary supplies. Because of my health I am okay with being quarantined at
home. My wife is bored, but that’s the way it is.
 
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I remember hearing about bomb shelters as a child, but I remember something else from elementary school more clearly - because it was as stupid as can be.
We frequently practiced getting under our desks & were taught to cover our heads with our hands....to protect us from a nuclear bomb attack. I guess school administrators didn't think we would ever grow up & learn that it didn't matter whether we were vaporized under our desks or sitting at our desks.
 
We had a bomb shelter when I was a kid. Daddy would take us down there when the weather was very bad. Mama kept her canned fruit and veggies down there. Daddy did not call it a bomb shelter but a root cellar.
 
No creepy-crawlies in THIS shelter.

I always hated to have to go into our basement (which was our bomb shelter, tornado shelter, attack-of-the-zombies shelter). It was damp and scary and dark and it was where my mother kept the jars of what she had canned. I had to make a trip down there almost every day...….praying that this wasn't the day that something was going to come slithering out of the little room that held the furnace, the dungeon...…. Besides, there were spiders and I HATED spiders.
 
My dad build a shed to store tools and garden implements. Both grandfathers also had sheds. Could I live in one for any length of time? No.
 
We lived in the country away from the major cities so there was never much concern about the need for a bomb shelter.

I've adjusted pretty well to going out once a week to do my shopping and it may shape my routine going forward.

I have noticed that I need to come up with an exercise routine to replace my daily outings. I've noticed a big difference in how I feel and move without that little bit of daily exercise. A daily walk around the neighborhood should take care of that.

I've also noticed that I'm purchasing more and different food items when I do my weekly shopping. If I have a craving or a whim during the week I jot the item on the weekly shopping list. When I was going out every day I only bought what I needed at the time.

I'm starting to wonder about the need for a car but that will take quite a bit more wondering before I make a decision.

I'm not sure that I would have fared so well in the days before the internet.

I'm very thankful for my little link to the rest of the world.
 
I'm poor, but so fortunate. I have a house and a yard and nobody to tell me what I can do to/with either. If I was in an apartment through this, I would probably go stark-raving mad. As to the old bomb shelters (and I clearly remember thinking how dumb 'hiding under our desk drills' were), my family and I decided up-front that being 'safe' while our neighbors and friends died was not worth it. The only thing that I miss during this is the ability to hug my neighbor boy - I will get another chance someday.
 
We had a Bomb Shelter left over from the war in the back garden of a tenement where I lived for some years, as a child in the mid 60's . It was in immaculate condition, and had stood the test of time and bombs, and we kids would go in occasionally, but it was just a very dark brick built shelter with tiny slits for light and air.. I wouldn't like to live in it for a day much less anything longer.

I'm very much an outdoors person... but I'm fortunate as most of you know who've seen my pics that I live in an area where I can go and walk in fields, and woodland.. . I also have a good size garden..so in that sense I don't feel trapped ( unless it rains for an extended period) ..however like many of you, I do feel trapped in being unable to go and socialise with friends, visiting with my precious daughter ... and just as the OP says something simple will suddenly overwhelm me like wanting to go for a coffee, just go and sit and have a Latte with my friends, ..and most of all the Pub.


I miss going to the Marina where we have our boat, recently since we had such glorious sailing weather it was so sad not to be able to go out on the boat.. or at least down to the Marina to meet our fellow boat owning friends..
...
The pub is a very different cultural thing here than it is in the states.. where we go to eat..or just drink, or socialise with our friends and families and the children come too with garden to play in ..up until a certain time when it's adults only..

I miss the pub, we go every week sometimes twice,.... I miss just suddenly getting the urge to jump in the car and drive to the coast 40 minutes away .. did I also say I miss the PUB!!!!:D


..however all of it pales into insignificance.... when I think of people like Drifter and wife who Can't get out..who have no choice but to stay in...

People who live in small cramped high and low rise apartments with children.

People who are living in abusive relationships and have no escape , or respite from it where they would have before the lockdown... he /she (children) might go out for several nights or days per week giving the victim respite, but they're not getting any now, instead the abuser is with them 24/7... In this country alone since the lock-down started the abuse hotline, has received over 90,000 calls...according to the media..that's just incredibly sad..

So...with all that said,..I have food, I have a garden, I have a car, I have acres of open landscape, and I have you all to talk to 🥰 thank the lord for @Matrix and @SeaBreeze for all their hard work 🧡


... ..life might not be as good as it was, but thank God it's not as bad as it could be and is for so many other people...
 
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I can remember those school air raid drills of long ago when we’d cower in hallways or hide under our desks. My father also stored water and foodstuffs in the basement. Those sneaky Russkies were apparently fixing to A-bomb us at any time, but my sturdy school desk would apparently shield me. Now we know that our real enemies are terrorists both foreign and home-grown, and renegade viruses...

C71C4155-E8A0-4659-B2B5-C7A7B2BA33F8.jpeg

i didn’t expect to be living in a reality out of a bad dystopian novel, which so far has included most of the elements of that genre except for the zombies; maybe they’re coming next. Our world has grown smaller and darker, and it’s rather surreal and disorienting. At least I’ll never take the availability of toilet paper for granted again!
 
Had a house (in the late 80s/early 90s) that was designed and built in the 50s. It had a bomb shelter built in the basement. The ceiling was a foot thick slab of concrete, all 4 walls were concrete block. The main water line for the house ran through it, with a valve to get water if needed. It was about 6' x 8'. We just used it as a wine cellar.
I'm sure I lived thru those "get under the desk" school drills, but I really don't remember them. As for today, I will count my blessings.
 
Ruth n Jersey said:
I remember talk of those bomb shelters. I'm a homebody also but as soon as I was told I shouldn't or can't go out I felt like a caged rabbit.
I did mention to the hubby how lucky we are though. We have enough food and a roof over our heads and bills are being paid. A lot of people can't say that.
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Same with me. Because of my health I didn’t go out much, just too tired. Soon as I’m told not to go out and the longer it goes on the more trapped it feel.
 
JaniceM said:
Nope. I've never heard of fruit shelters, thought storm shelters was mostly a Southern thing, and must have missed bomb shelters by a few years.
As I work online, I'm usually inside anyway, so the only time it's a problem is when I need something from the store.
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Actually they are called fruit cellars, but it’s basically the same thing. A space under the house where you store fruit because it’s cooler, used before 1960’s a lot. In the old Indian movies people hide in them from attacking Indians or bad guys.
 
chic said:
My dad build a shed to store tools and garden implements. Both grandfathers also had sheds. Could I live in one for any length of time? No.
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Sheds are now made into man caves, spare bedroom, and tiny houses.
 
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Fyrefox said:
I can remember those school air raid drills of long ago when we’d cower in hallways or hide under our desks. My father also stored water and foodstuffs in the basement. Those sneaky Russkies were apparently fixing to A-bomb us at any time, but my sturdy school desk would apparently shield me. Now we know that our real enemies are terrorists both foreign and home-grown, and renegade viruses...

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i didn’t expect to be living in a reality out of a bad dystopian novel, which so far has included most of the elements of that genre except for the zombies; maybe they’re coming next. Our world has grown smaller and darker, and it’s rather surreal and disorienting. At least I’ll never take the availability of toilet paper for granted again!
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Me too! Learned an important lesson, got to have lots of TP in case of a shortage.
 
Aunt Marg said:
I'm a true homebody by nature, as is dear husband, so honestly, we're right at home with this Covid-19 self-isolation, because we're normally practicing self-isolation anyways. :)
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I'm like you, we have no desire to go to fairs, concerts or crowded events anymore anyway. We're fine during this virus because we're retired and we're okay with hanging out at home or in the yard. I still go out with the dog every day in a big park, and it's easy to stay clear of people. We always had some extra food and supplies on hand in case of emergencies, so we didn't have to go bonkers running around shopping for the basics when the pandemic guidelines fell into place. I still chat with the neighbors a bit, just at a distance.

With a TV, radio, stereo and computer....and all the chores around the house and yard that still beg for attention, I can't say I'm bored at all. If I have the energy and desire, there's plenty I could be doing. When everything opens up again, things won't be that different for us, won't be running out and going to the mall on a shopping spree, or going to any football games. :)
 
SeaBreeze said:
I'm like you, we have no desire to go to fairs, concerts or crowded events anymore anyway. We're fine during this virus because we're retired and we're okay with hanging out at home or in the yard. I still go out with the dog every day in a big park, and it's easy to stay clear of people. We always had some extra food and supplies on hand in case of emergencies, so we didn't have to go bonkers running around shopping for the basics when the pandemic guidelines fell into place. I still chat with the neighbors a bit, just at a distance.

With a TV, radio, stereo and computer....and all the chores around the house and yard that still beg for attention, I can't say I'm bored at all. If I have the energy and desire, there's plenty I could be doing. When everything opens up again, things won't be that different for us, won't be running out and going to the mall on a shopping spree, or going to any football games. :)
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I will be going to get take out at my favorite breakfast place if they reopen. 😂
 
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