10) The Big One

As a native Californian, earthquakes have never been a source of worry. I survived the 1989 Loma Prieta quake with vague memories of an uneventful evening. Since then, each minor, half-hearted wiggle has been an exercise of apathy. An initial "whoa" followed by an internal dialogue of whether it's worth it to duck and cover. Before I've even come to a conclusion, it's over.

So imagine my surprise and skepticism when Eric (not a CA native) informed me that I was in need of an earthquake preparedness kit. Among other things, this includes five Sparkletts-delivers sized gallons of water. Little did I know, there is a whole market for these kits. Each ranges in scope. The most extensive list I've seen is from SFgate.com, which suggests that one basically keep a second set of all basic possessions on hand. Just in case.

Am I alone in my poo-pooing of earthquakes? Or do native Californians in general share my irreverent attitude? It's not to say that I believe the dreaded and much-predicted Big One will never happen. The inevitability looms, and we struggle to assign a long enough range for our predictions. I've heard the "sometime in the next decade" guess at least a few times in my life.

Equipping your apartment with a kit can only bring you so much peace of mind. Is the rest a matter of accepting the unavoidable and living your life in spite of it? Or of ignorant bliss?