MELL is my new term for preparedness efforts. It is copyrighted so please save us both the problem and don’t even think about it – without my permission – which I will give gratefully if you simply ask!
So, what the heck is MELL?
We’re all going to meet MELL one day. We actually meet MELL daily but when it comes to surviving or preparedness or prepping, some folks forget MELL.
I’m involved in forums where folks have an insider at the hospital slipping them supplies on the sly or just as the expiration date rolls around, I’ve seen some folks talking large amounts of pens and paper from ‘work’ to store up with, etc.
It doesn’t seem to matter the position or business – folks are out there looking for anything they can use/take for long term needs and they try to skirt the issue of actually stealing – by saying things like, “well, they were about to expire, I could use them more, the x business has more money than me so they can afford it.”
Well… HERE COMES MELL!
M – Morales – defined as “principle of right and wrong in behavior”
E – Ethics – the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation
L – Legitimate – being exactly as purposed
L – Legal – conforming to or permitted by law or established rules
When/perhaps IF the SHTF MELL is going to hit us all and hit us all hard.
The last time I got MELL’d was working at a restaurant years ago. We were suppose to put the unused daily produce in the dumpster for trash. For years, we had homeless folks lined up outside the door for the scraps of fresh produce that were left over from the shift.
For me it was horrible having to walk right by them and trash the perfectly good produce! In my mind I knew there was NOTHING wrong with the produce, but by county law it had to be trashed.
So, one night, as a man begged for lettuce, I made an executive decision… I would put the produce in the trash bin but stack it nicely so he and others could take it and use it.
The county I lived in then would not allow us to take this perfectly good food to the homeless shelter. This food I’m referring to was locally grown and all of two day old. It had been kept refrigerated but the lettuce would ultimately wilt and the cucumbers would show bruises. It wasn’t “retailable” but still “edible!” I took several veggies home myself and I’m still here to talk about it, so you know it wasn’t just rotten veggies – it was ugly produce – as I coined it.
About a week later, the police office patrolling a nearby shopping center saw one of the homeless dumpster diving and came over. The officer, doing his job, wanted to write the man a citation and me one too… but after talking a bit, he finally just gave us both a warning. I think I the moral part of my speech touched him.
I guess our local homeless got more wise because I never saw them again, however, the food would be gone within a couple of hours of putting it out in the dumpster.
Morally and ethically – I know I did the right thing.
Legally and legitimately – I, in some eyes, broke the law.
What would you do?
As middle management for over 15 years, I had to learn how to bend the rules for the hourly employees. A lot of “the rules” were pretty stupid, and I had a knack for making both parties happy. If the upper management decided to change something for the better, I could argue that it was costing more money without any results. I could also tell them that employee A had been doing the same “change” more efficiently that actually saved him money. Anyways, MELL will be a lot harder in the future when the SHTF.