I know we're only just past port, so if you want a breather you can ignore this awhile - I had a question? Of the serious kind, been sitting on it for a minute.
Yeah... [There's a dry laugh on her voice.] It was rough when I messaged him privately after, too. You know, because I wanted him to know I was serious, not just taking shots at him for shits and giggles.
I'll tell you what I told him:
Asking for volunteers doesn't work. Some people will sign up to be helpful, but they're not necessarily the right people for the job, and the wardens were giving off pretty mixed signals at the time –– desperate for help, but also insisting they were fine without it. Most people in less important jobs will just look at that and decide it doesn't apply to them, so now we've got barely dozen people or something trying to cover three meals a day, seven days a week, plus snacks, for a hundred or so people. They're going to burn out, and I don't care if Archer's willing to pick up all the slack personally, because that's not a real back-up plan. Harry leaving left the infirmary in the hands of a bunch of people with patchwork training. If I'd arrived with only Tiffany and Bodhi, I would have been dead within the hour. Even if I trusted he knows what he's doing, you can't hinge our fucking access to food on one guy.
There's also the supply itself. Not wanting to "settle" for just sandwiches, all the cookies and all that –– that's a waste. People don't need that much food every day to get by, and they definitely don't need fancy. Reserving supplies is more important. Archer insisted food supply isn't an issue, but Arthur says otherwise, and... [a pause] well, they always say that. They don't want to cause a panic, so they ask for help while pretending they don't actually need it.
He also suggested we all individually stock up. Most people here probably have never starved in their lives, so they could stand to stock up, but it's still trite bullshit to spout. Inmates don't have kitchen access, and they can only wait for a port and hope a warden will help out to keep them stocked. You can't blow off my concerns, do nothing to make food more accessible, and then expect me to trust you have things under control, either.
[A deep breath; she can feel herself getting worked up again.]
I don't mean to rant, but that whole thing really pissed me off.
Quentin mentioned private stock to Arthur and me both, and I'm still chewing on that. It's something I want to be on people about going forward - I have a couple things I want to run by kitchen staff, but this isn't exactly my wheelhouse. I've provided for myself, but that's not going to translate to a tiny space and a lot of people.
Just in general, things like this, are there pitfalls you see a lot? Stuff that looks good on paper but falls apart in practice. Ways the normal setup here would make things worse in an emergency, anything.
I get it, because it's not really my wheelhouse either. I spend more time gaming the system back home than contributing to it, I can admit that, but I'm used to living with the consequences of people above me fucking it up, too.
The biggest pitfall to me is an attitude problem. People just aren't used to living in a way where food is a daily concern, so they don't plan for the long term, or they dismiss planning as pointless because they hope the Admiral would only take it away temporarily. Over and over the thing I hear "wow, Tess, your world sucks" and some unspoken pity about it, like it'd never happen for them, or they made it past 2013 without it happening so it's impossible. They think they're special, so they're not thinking about if we crash, or lose engine power or something, and then we're floating in space without help.
And when a small number of people control the bulk of the food, and they're not even receptive to talking about how it's handled, they're probably going to lose their shit in an emergency. Wardens and inmates with better connections are going to get fed, and unpaired inmates are going to get overlooked quick. People who have no concept of food security are going to be baking cookies in the middle of a crisis because they'll think "this will be over in a week" or "having this would make me feel better." No! Even if it was only a week, watch how quick people riot when they haven't been fed for a couple days, or they're seeing other people get fed more than them. It gets ugly.
Have to know a system to game a system, and it's more of a start than some folks.
[Said with a careful, deliberate optimism.]
The place definitely doesn't help with the head games. People'd be wrong for looking down their noses at preparedness, but I can't say I'd be shocked if the Admiral pulled something like that intentionally. I think I've heard about the ship being attacked before, what might be actual slip-ups -- whatever that thing was where inmates were wardens and vice versa, that wasn't a planned thing. There should be at least enough implication of danger to sell some people, and once you sell a handful I think it's easy to snowball.
How limited the setup is does make me nervous. No convincing the Admiral to open that up, but I think hitting kitchen heads all at once ought to yield...something. Set up stockpiling, plan crisis-rations. Force them to keep each other accountable when there isn't someone hovering about it.
How'd they handle protein? Were there still farms, plant substitutes-?
Frankly, if they turn you away, then you just do it yourself, for your own people. It'd be nice to be able to protect everyone, but it doesn't usually work out like that. You can always be nice to them later when the shit hits the fan and they're desperate, too. You'll be able to get them on board, though. People like you.
[By her own reckoning, Tess is too much of a shrill bitch for anyone to take her seriously. Misty will fare better.]
We still had farms, and the military secured them quick enough. Massachusetts has a lot of dairy, so we've got milk and cheese and beef in decent enough quantities, but it's all rationed, and winters are real lean. We've got a lot of cranberries and apples, too. And Boston's on the harbor so we've still got some fish. Problem there is that gas is more valuable than gold, so the big ships are a waste and smaller ships... well, I'm sure you can imagine the logistics of that. Either way, it all runs alright because the military gives out work details, sometimes as punishment and sometimes just because of need. If you don't take them then you get your rations cut, so most people take 'em.
We have it pretty good in Boston. We don't starve half as often as the poor bastards trying to live off the wilderness.
Oh, for sure - I'm not going to go without, I'm just hoping for the best. Ain't like me and mine are gonna be easier to look after if the rest of the place is looking for food anyway.
This place will never manage big livestock, but I half-wonder if the Admiral'd make room for some tiny hatchery. Worked there on the train, I wouldn't be going in as blind as I could be - protein's what worries me.
It's a good idea. Only trouble is that any animals need a lot of food and water to get by, too. It's easier with chickens or fish or whatever because they're smaller, but it's still competition when your problem is land you can grow shit on in the first place. And too many people here are bleeding hearts about animals. You'll have to get people over that.
I'm sure somebody'd step up to butcher if we needed it, it's just...not giving any space to get attached beforehand. New critters, clean slate. Start new and they'll adapt fine.
[That's a lot of talk, after that koi fish incident, but Tess doesn't let on to that thought.]
I sure hope so. There's always people in any group that just don't adapt at all, and a lot that are too slow to pick up... I do not relish the idea of having to hold anyone's hand through a crisis.
[Meal fish aren't pretty fish. Difference between livestock and pets is important.]
I'd like to think this place weeds out capable people, but it can't be that generous across the board. They'll make themselves known if it happens, I guess.
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audio, the 27th-ish
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I'm good to go. Shoot.
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This was rough to see in the moment and it's just gonna get rougher in hindsight.
Kind of open-ended: I just wanted to hear the insights. As it applies to there and just in general with food security.
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I'll tell you what I told him:
Asking for volunteers doesn't work. Some people will sign up to be helpful, but they're not necessarily the right people for the job, and the wardens were giving off pretty mixed signals at the time –– desperate for help, but also insisting they were fine without it. Most people in less important jobs will just look at that and decide it doesn't apply to them, so now we've got barely dozen people or something trying to cover three meals a day, seven days a week, plus snacks, for a hundred or so people. They're going to burn out, and I don't care if Archer's willing to pick up all the slack personally, because that's not a real back-up plan. Harry leaving left the infirmary in the hands of a bunch of people with patchwork training. If I'd arrived with only Tiffany and Bodhi, I would have been dead within the hour. Even if I trusted he knows what he's doing, you can't hinge our fucking access to food on one guy.
There's also the supply itself. Not wanting to "settle" for just sandwiches, all the cookies and all that –– that's a waste. People don't need that much food every day to get by, and they definitely don't need fancy. Reserving supplies is more important. Archer insisted food supply isn't an issue, but Arthur says otherwise, and... [a pause] well, they always say that. They don't want to cause a panic, so they ask for help while pretending they don't actually need it.
He also suggested we all individually stock up. Most people here probably have never starved in their lives, so they could stand to stock up, but it's still trite bullshit to spout. Inmates don't have kitchen access, and they can only wait for a port and hope a warden will help out to keep them stocked. You can't blow off my concerns, do nothing to make food more accessible, and then expect me to trust you have things under control, either.
[A deep breath; she can feel herself getting worked up again.]
I don't mean to rant, but that whole thing really pissed me off.
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Quentin mentioned private stock to Arthur and me both, and I'm still chewing on that. It's something I want to be on people about going forward - I have a couple things I want to run by kitchen staff, but this isn't exactly my wheelhouse. I've provided for myself, but that's not going to translate to a tiny space and a lot of people.
Just in general, things like this, are there pitfalls you see a lot? Stuff that looks good on paper but falls apart in practice. Ways the normal setup here would make things worse in an emergency, anything.
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I get it, because it's not really my wheelhouse either. I spend more time gaming the system back home than contributing to it, I can admit that, but I'm used to living with the consequences of people above me fucking it up, too.
The biggest pitfall to me is an attitude problem. People just aren't used to living in a way where food is a daily concern, so they don't plan for the long term, or they dismiss planning as pointless because they hope the Admiral would only take it away temporarily. Over and over the thing I hear "wow, Tess, your world sucks" and some unspoken pity about it, like it'd never happen for them, or they made it past 2013 without it happening so it's impossible. They think they're special, so they're not thinking about if we crash, or lose engine power or something, and then we're floating in space without help.
And when a small number of people control the bulk of the food, and they're not even receptive to talking about how it's handled, they're probably going to lose their shit in an emergency. Wardens and inmates with better connections are going to get fed, and unpaired inmates are going to get overlooked quick. People who have no concept of food security are going to be baking cookies in the middle of a crisis because they'll think "this will be over in a week" or "having this would make me feel better." No! Even if it was only a week, watch how quick people riot when they haven't been fed for a couple days, or they're seeing other people get fed more than them. It gets ugly.
no subject
[Said with a careful, deliberate optimism.]
The place definitely doesn't help with the head games. People'd be wrong for looking down their noses at preparedness, but I can't say I'd be shocked if the Admiral pulled something like that intentionally. I think I've heard about the ship being attacked before, what might be actual slip-ups -- whatever that thing was where inmates were wardens and vice versa, that wasn't a planned thing. There should be at least enough implication of danger to sell some people, and once you sell a handful I think it's easy to snowball.
How limited the setup is does make me nervous. No convincing the Admiral to open that up, but I think hitting kitchen heads all at once ought to yield...something. Set up stockpiling, plan crisis-rations. Force them to keep each other accountable when there isn't someone hovering about it.
How'd they handle protein? Were there still farms, plant substitutes-?
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[By her own reckoning, Tess is too much of a shrill bitch for anyone to take her seriously. Misty will fare better.]
We still had farms, and the military secured them quick enough. Massachusetts has a lot of dairy, so we've got milk and cheese and beef in decent enough quantities, but it's all rationed, and winters are real lean. We've got a lot of cranberries and apples, too. And Boston's on the harbor so we've still got some fish. Problem there is that gas is more valuable than gold, so the big ships are a waste and smaller ships... well, I'm sure you can imagine the logistics of that. Either way, it all runs alright because the military gives out work details, sometimes as punishment and sometimes just because of need. If you don't take them then you get your rations cut, so most people take 'em.
We have it pretty good in Boston. We don't starve half as often as the poor bastards trying to live off the wilderness.
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This place will never manage big livestock, but I half-wonder if the Admiral'd make room for some tiny hatchery. Worked there on the train, I wouldn't be going in as blind as I could be - protein's what worries me.
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I'm sure somebody'd step up to butcher if we needed it, it's just...not giving any space to get attached beforehand. New critters, clean slate. Start new and they'll adapt fine.
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I sure hope so. There's always people in any group that just don't adapt at all, and a lot that are too slow to pick up... I do not relish the idea of having to hold anyone's hand through a crisis.
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I'd like to think this place weeds out capable people, but it can't be that generous across the board. They'll make themselves known if it happens, I guess.