Useful.

In the event of the apocalypse, or social/economical/governmental downfall, or anything else that would render life into a neo-medieval survivalist situation, I like to believe that I would be useful.

It's true, I'm probably no good at fighting. I'm also for sure not a leader. But I refuse to be the little girl that everyone has to defend all the time. The greens are not necessarily a useless lot. Engineers, for example. But if I'm not giving something back to the group, then someday some red is going to have had enough of my freeloading and somehow "accidentally" things will just go bad. In a survivalist group, everyone has to contribute, and if someone thinks you're not contributing, they might do something about it. Or not do something when they should.

So anyway, I am going to be useful. How useful? Depends on the situation. Maybe they need me to make clothes--that depends on if clothing can be scavenged. I know how to make very functional vestments using as little fabric as possible. Of course everyone would look pretty medieval, but that would just be ironically appropriate. It's not my fault that medieval clothing can be extremely multifunctional. I'm just a person who recognizes that fact and knows how to do it. Of course little fashionistas are welcome to contribute, but if their designs waste a lot of fabric and aren't very functional, well, the haute couture may have to crumble for the sake of the greater good.

At the very least, if we scavenge clothing (I imagine we would for the first few years) I can alter and mend it. Furthermore I can make blankets and large "HELLO" signs to put on hillsides. Theoretically I could also make tents, or something. And we're never going to run out of buttons because all that no-longer-useful money of the old world can be very useful in that manner. I guarantee I will find something to do with every last scrap bit of fabric. I can unravel it to use the thread (only useful for hand sewing), or the scrap fabric can become batting for blankets, coats, and padded clothing to be worn with armor.

I'm no good at hacking or any hi-tech specialties like that, but I can use tools pretty well, to build things and stuff. Or I could if I had to. Admittedly I don't have a lot of experience with it, but I feel confident that I could figure out how to build rudimentary necessities.

I can make rope, but the strength really depends on the materials available. At least I understand that there's more to a (useful) rope than tying long pieces of fabric together, and that puts me one up over most people. However, I can weave pretty strong straps using any type of yarn (without needing a loom). Plus, I know how to start fires without matches, and how to make oil lamps, and I can make candles and soaps out of kitchen wastes. (Bacon grease, mostly. Let's hope we catch a few bears, those are nice and greasy and their fur is so warm!) I also know how to build small traps for catching small animals. I can make baskets, too. Don't underestimate the necessity of basketry.

I would probably also end up being a sort of chronicler/historian, thanks to my incessant journalism.

What I like about this post-apocalyptic world is that it's a world in which pop-tab scale mail is actually valid. That's basically the only thing that pop tabs in fashion has going for itself. I actually don't have any idea if that stuff is useful, but it's theoretically better than no armor at all.

And then, just think . . . eventually enough nomadic survivalist groups would join together, and go off into the countryside, and form a little community . . . They could build a giant wall to fend off zombies, mutants, government assassins, or rival survivalist groups. And then instead of scavenging they will actually start to produce things themselves. Growing crops, breeding herds, re-learning the ancient art of surviving the winter. Man, I really wasn't joking when I said neo-medieval. It just seems to be the logical strong of events--though that really depends a lot on how much technology survives and if the survivors can get their hands on it.

So think about it. Would you be useful in a survivalist situation? Do you have anything to contribute to a society in which, if you're not useful, you're out?

As Alyssa and I discussed recently, all those useless girls who have no real skills, well theoretically they could be useful in making babies, but who wants babies with useless genes? Hopefully all the useless people will have died by doing something really stupid in the midst of the apocalypse, like running out into the zombie horde, or running out into a battlefield, or whatever. Unfortunately, surviving an apocalypse has more to do with chance and a bit of luck, than with survival know-how. It's surviving after the apocalypse that your skills are important. We only want smart, useful people in our post-apocalyptic survivalist society.