Episode 7 - Zombies Made Me Buy Toilet Paper Early

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A simple game changed how we move through the world. We started by asking childlike questions—Where would I go? What would I need?—and ended up with a clear, compassionate approach to preparation that kept panic at bay when 2020 upended daily life. This story threads together fatherly advice, indigenous teachings on respect and health, and practical steps anyone can take to turn awareness into resilience.

We talk through the shift from autopilot to attention: scanning spaces, noting exits, and catching subtle changes we miss when routines blur our vision. Then we map how that mindset translated into action—early signals, steady supply runs, air and light considerations, and a plan for work or school disruptions. It wasn’t about stockpiling fear; it was about reducing friction and making space for calm judgment when the room gets loud. Along the way, we reflect on why communities often react late, how to distinguish panic from preparation, and why small preventive habits—seatbelts, handwashing, masks in crowded spaces—are acts of care as much as self-protection.

If you’ve ever wondered how to be ready without spiraling into worst-case fantasies, this is your guide. You’ll leave with a minimal, realistic checklist for power outages, boil-water notices, winter travel, and sudden closures; a smarter way to notice exits and hazards; and a deeper appreciation for how shared responsibility keeps families and neighbors steady. Preparation isn’t a bunker mindset—it’s everyday respect, practiced early and often. If this resonates, follow the show, share it with a friend who needs calm over chaos, and leave a quick review to help more people find it.

Mundo Mondays

Transcript

The Game Of Awareness

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Have you ever mentally prepared for something that might never happen? When I was a kid, my father used to tell me something simple. Always be aware of your surroundings. Know where you are, know what's around you. So I started turning this idea into a mental game that I played everywhere. I went where everywhere I went, shopping malls, highways, cities, even the wilderness. I called it zombie apocalypse. It forced me to think through survival situations. Where would I go? What would I need? What would I do if everything suddenly changed? For years, it was just a small little game I played in my head. Then 2020 happened. And suddenly my mindset didn't feel like a game anymore. Today I want to talk about how that way of thinking shaped how I prepared for uncertainty and how it still shapes how I think today. So in today's episode, I want to talk about the game I used to play called Zombie Apocalypse. Let's start from the beginning. So as a child, my father would tell me, Know your surroundings. And usually I would look at other people while we were driving and traveling, and I would ask myself, Who are these people that are traveling next to me? Who I see. And of course, I will observe places and environments as we were driving along, and I became more familiar with my outside world. And slowly turning that into a game everywhere I went. So the idea of zombie scenario was a in itself was a thinking tool. And yeah, you could say, you know, the idea of zombies actually happen suddenly was could be argued

Turning Vigilance Into A Habit

SPEAKER_00 2:30

as something as a potential risk. And in a way it was learning to think ahead. So here were some of the questions that that kind of reflect the idea. How aware are we in the spaces we move through every day?

SPEAKER_01 2:55

So that is a good question.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

How are we how aware are we of the spaces we move through every day? And I think that's an interesting concept because we could consistently be traveling in the same environment day in and day out, and we're so used to it we do not see the smaller changes that are happening in that little place. It's kind of like saying, you know, you're too close to the problem that you can't see the problem because you're right up close to it. Sometimes we need to take a few steps back to see the picture, the bigger picture, to see where the issue is. And kind of the same thing with you know being in spaces that we move through every day, we're not aware of certain things that are happening right in front of our face. So that kind of brings us to the critical thinking part of things of like how to actually engage in spaces, in put spaces that we travel in every day. And a lot of times we don't take that specific time to look around. So in this moment, even though you're driving, just kind of glance around real quickly. Do you see something that you didn't notice before? Or let's just say you're at home and you're looking around the room and you look across the room and you say, Hey,

Questions That Sharpen Perception

SPEAKER_00 4:20

what is that right there? And you know, just take a moment right now and look in the space where you're around. Of course, you're driving, keep your hands on the dry, keep so yeah, you you people keep your hands on the wheel. But smallly takes small glances. And if you've traveled through this place before, tell me something that you see differently, just for a moment. And people who are listening or who are listening to my voice to fall asleep, look around the room and say, Hey, I never noticed that before. So if that's what I mean, just be more aware.

SPEAKER_01 4:57

So if something unexpected unexpected happens right now, would we know where to go?

SPEAKER_00 5:11

And that's kind of an interesting question. Because I'm looking around the room I am right now, and if something unexpectedly happened, then I'm like, oh I don't know how to exit where I'm at right now. I see one, two, three, four windows around me facing outside, or possible five windows, and a scare staircase. Yeah. I know how to get out, but if something unexpectedly happens where I had to leave, I know I would take the stairs. So anyway, that's just my thought. You know, just think about that situation. Something unexpectedly happened right now, what would you do? Think about that. And the next question: do we move through the world on autopilot or are we aware? Do we have any awareness of you know what's going on in the world? Or do we just go through the motions? For me, I try to engage what's happening sometimes because I think again, this is getting a little opinionated, but let me explain the situation. Sometimes we act and we live in a reactive society. Many times we're not proactive, and that's kind of like the reason for today's episode to be more proactive in the way that we think. Because I think if we are reactive, we're never proactive to trying to be use preventive measures. And that's kind of like the the part of a zombie apocalypse. Most people walk into a building and never notice the exits. And I want you to think about for a moment. When was the last time you walked into a store? Let's just say a big box store, you know, those major conglomerate stores that we all go to. And I know all of us are gonna say, no, I don't go to that, but I will admit I will go to there for some deals, and because it is a lot less not

Exits, Autopilot, And Proactive Thinking

SPEAKER_00 7:20

so heavy on my wallet. And so, anyway, in those big box stores, I do wonder where my exits are. And in the moment, I'm like, okay, so I know there should be exits because they obviously stock things from the back, so I know there's a back entrance, and if they have a hardware store, sometimes those hardware stores have an outside section as well, so there's another section. So at least I have at least three ideas where they're out their exits, and that's just me. Just think about creatively, I mean cre critical thinking-wise. So let's move forward. So that's the idea of zombie apocalypse, the genesis, of starting to build on these stories, these ideas, and trying to see the world in that sense. But what happens when a childhood game that you play for almost 20 years of your life changes everything? So let's move it forward to 2020. I started watching the news a little more engaged and knowing where the COVID hotspots were starting to develop. And I started to see a pattern, started to see things. And I did take a course in uh viruses and human evolution, I believe, and there was a section talking about uh viruses, and it took me by surprise because the the the teacher that I was talking about had mentioned something and how indigenous populations were able to identify this virus, and the federal government actually requested their help to find out what's going on if seeing these medicine people found out what was going on. And it's interesting because this is a university class, and the teachers explaining this, and they said that they went to indigenous people to find out what was causing everyone to get sick, and they couldn't find out what it would be. So they asked them, they asked the medicine people what was going on, and the medicine people would just straight out tell them, hey, this is what's causing it. And by surprise, guess what? That was the corporate. So, anyway, what I'm trying to get in at is that 2020 they happened, and then yeah, I started seeing the the signs. So I start telling friends and family and people around me about you know the possibility of what's gonna happen. I even talked to the school, and I talked to you know their situation if they were prepared, what's going on, because no one was talking about in class, and it started to get me worried. And they said, Well, this is a school, I won't say the school, but they said we're monitoring the situation. And for me, that was scary to hear, we're monitoring the situation. So this kind of got me really upset, and you guys

From Thought Experiment To 2020 Reality

SPEAKER_00 10:25

know that if I don't have at least some piece of the puzzle, I get a little nervous because I don't have enough information to make an actual decision of what's happening. So, for me being an indigenous person, my people were almost wiped out because of disease and a lot of those things. And so I believe okay, this is for me. I know a lot of people are gonna disagree with me, especially natives, but I do believe in some vaccines do help, and you know, they prevent you know the spread of things happening to make it worse. It's you know not only science, but it's also common sense. And a lot of you are gonna say, well, if that's the same, how does that differ to indigenous thought? Well, I'm a product from both places, and indigenous thoughts do kind of qualify for the act of being conscious of the things around you as well. So that's also they you know do practice those types of things of you know, practicing being clean and washing our hands, and so there is that historical belief in that too, of keeping clean. So why am I bringing this up? Well, hearing my grandma growing up in a situation where they only were bedridden and they didn't they couldn't leave, and the only time they could leave was twice a year because of the the the situation that was occurring on the reservation. And to hear that situation, I'm reminded by that story, and my grandma had been past for almost wow, maybe almost 13 years when 2020 happens, and I see what's happening, and I think to myself, well, I have two options. I can stay and fight, or I can go home and be with my people, and we'll try to figure this out. And I'm at school and I think about my grandma, I think about you know, growing up on the reservation, and you know, there's very few of us, even in the population of you know the United States, Native Americans take up one percent. But you know, there's over 500 plus nation, tribal communities, and nations, and you know, each one of them had are unique to histories, to language, to you know, that that type of thing. So I thought to myself, if my community kind of gets wiped out, or you know, something happens to that point, what is the best way? And I'm educated. So, you know, obviously, you know, I would you know be sad something happens

Indigenous Lessons And Health Choices

SPEAKER_00 13:10

to my family. But I have to be realistic. If I'm sent here, if the if the choices I make of everything in nature, if fate, the universe has brought me to this point of being scoot at this point, at this time, if all the life decisions got me to here, maybe I'm supposed to stay and fight. So I decided to rent a car, and I decided to stay, and I prepared. In two days over the weekend of renting the car, I got all sorts of supplies: fridge-dried food, toilet paper, first aid, even solar lighting and batteries, and even ventilation concerns of trying to see if I can't block up the little vent ports in my apartment. Because again, I took you know virus and human evolution, so I knew how some viruses work of being airborne, which also plays a huge role into a lot of stuff. So here's the thing they announced were shut and back, the school announced that they're not gonna have any in-person classes, government cities just close, and people don't know how to act. People start freaking out, people start panic buying. There's chaos in stores. People buy a lot of the food and supplies, and on the news, I'm seeing the lines, I'm seeing people fight over toilet paper, I am seeing just chaos. And all I could think to myself is I really tried to warn people. I really did. I put a full effort into trying to warn my friends, my family, the people in school, and no one listened.

SPEAKER_01 15:19

No one listened.

SPEAKER_00 15:24

I realized that in that mindset that I had been practicing for slow so long for the zombie apocalypse, that I had everything I needed. I had enough toilet paper, yes, I wasn't one of those people. I had enough freeze-dry food, I had enough a lot of supplies to last me for about two to three months. And I know you know zombie apocalypse, you know, seeing the movie can happen for lifetimes, months, weeks, not just days. But in this case, I knew I would be okay for at least at least a month or two, at least three pushing it. So, you know, when when I thought about it, I think you know, just playing the game of zombie apocalypse all these years actually paid off, it panned out, and then we found out that it was through an airborne virus, and you know, I bought little event covers, I sealed it off, blocked it up, and the reason for that is because I my neighbor

Stocking Up And Sealing The Vents

SPEAKER_00 16:30

was cooking bacon and I could smell it, and I was like, if I can smell that, that means the sorry, something just fell unexpectedly, so maybe the universe is telling me that this is important. So as I was saying, the um now I lost my train of thought, and I don't have anyone to tell me anything. So I guess the point I was trying to make was that it was important to you know think about this point, and yeah, I listened to myself and I went from there. And it wasn't just a game, but it was actually a way for me to kind of prepare for something that could have happened, and you know, like I said, I warned people and no one listened. Oh, that's what I was talking about, bacon. Sorry, I went off track. So the bacon, I know that taking a course in uh viruses and human evolution that you know even smells carry in some part molecules, and the molecules are the same as virus molecules or mirus viruses, then I'm pretty sure that can travel through the air vents. So I thought to myself, when I was pat when I was buying stuff, that maybe I should seal off the vents, and which I did. Sealed it off pretty well, pretty good, didn't use the vents. I had little small little fans, so if it got hot enough, I would use those. And it did get hot, trust me. During the summertime of 2020, it was hot. So, anyway, getting off track, let's back up to all this stuff. So, why do most people only react once a crisis has already happened? Well, that's what I was talking about about being reactive society. We really are not really proactive. We always, you know, think, oh, it's never gonna happen to me, it's not gonna happen, you know, this is not gonna occur, and yet the unexpected happens and it does occur, and then we find ourselves in a situation of you know, reacting. So I guess my thing is, you know, you don't have to be like preppers, you know, you don't have to, you know, prepare for the end of the world or an underground shelter, just be prepared in some way or fashion because maybe you might be able to help your neighbor, and you know that's what's gonna count in those you know, moments after disaster, you know, communities are gonna have to come together,

Panic Vs Preparation

SPEAKER_00 19:00

families are gonna have to come there, friends are gonna have to come together, even neighbors are have to come together to help out one another, and just being prepared might be the difference between survival and adaptability, and compared to total chaos. Because I like to believe in people, I like real, I really like to believe in people, and I know this is going off topic a little bit, but I do believe in the best in humanity when push comes to shove, humanity will shine at its greatest. For some reason, I believe in that. Anyway, let's move on because we still have another section after this. What's the difference between panic and preparation? I think I just explained that already between proactive and reactive. And you know, it's just you know, when you're panic, you're reacting to the situation, and when you're being proactive, you're preparing for the situation or what may come. As I mentioned to you, I I'm I'm human. Look, okay, that's it. I'm human, I will make mistakes, and there's some things I'm not prepared for. I'm gonna say it right there, and you might see me on the streets and say, Hey Cameron, you talk about all this preparedness, and I don't see look, there's you know, I am not gonna be prepared for everything, you know, like for a hurricane. I've experienced one before, not as strong as some of them are, but you know, I was prepared. Even I bought prepared and you know, got some canned fruit and stuff like that, but it wasn't as bad. But the thing is, there are some things in my life I'm prepared for, you know, snow in the mountains and being prepared on that level of how to survive the cold. I mean, I have a few jackets I carry around, blankets, things, extra socks, thick socks. And yeah, I am prepared. So, yeah, that's the difference between that,

Everyday Preventive Habits

SPEAKER_00 21:00

I think. So, but what's your thought? What's your idea? And of course, the next question. If we see warning signs early, do we listen to ourselves or do we ignore them? Hmm. That's a tricky question. It's just like even taking care of yourself, you know, per preventive measures of like brushing your teeth, you know, that's a pre pre pre preventive measure. Wearing sunscreen, you know, prevents you know being sunblocked, but also, you know, you block out harmful UV UV rays. Wearing your seatbelt. That's a preventive measure right there. A couple of days ago a couple days ago, one of my friends was in an accident and they weren't wearing their seatbelt. And I just told them, I said, you need to be a little more. Uh smart about that. And they said, Well, we were lucky the car didn't hit us too hard. It was a smaller car. And I said, Look, regardless of the size of the car, regardless of the situation, you should have had your seatbelt on. And you know, that is you know something they they they ignored. But sometimes you also have to be smart about things. I mean common sense. And unfortunately, people don't have common sense. One of the reasons why I talk about things on this podcast is to give people critical thinking, to give them that insight to ask questions, to develop skills of how to think critically around the world they live in, in the world they live in. So preparedness isn't fair. Sometimes it's just paying attention. So anyway, we kind of dragged on a little bit more in that section. So let's move on to the last part. How my thinking

Evolving Into Practical Preparedness

SPEAKER_00 23:00

has changed. Well, after 2020, things of course relax. And for me, if you look on the podcast art, you see, you know, my uh logo, but then you see a picture of me wearing a face mask. I still wear my face mask if uh it's for a lot of reasons, you know, for what my grandma had told me about living through that situation on the res at one time, and then it's all about you know going through you know COVID, and of course it's just thinking, you know, being healthy in a space where I don't get sick as often, and that's the thing. I wear my mask a lot because in two ways. One, I'm showing respect for you by not spreading my germs on you because you know, maybe I am sick or carrying like you know, a coal or something, and I I don't even know where of it, and I might accidentally send it uh give it to you by accident, or in reverse, you might be sneezing on me, and I just don't want your germs on me, and that sounds a little too mean, but you know, but I'm also protecting myself and protecting you as a sign of respect. And yeah, there are times I don't wear it when I'm eating, when I'm in a restaurant, and but a lot of times I try to keep the mask on as much as I can, even outdoors, because even sometimes in some places, some cities, some environments, there is pollutants in the in the air, you know, there's even like dust and pollen and you know, things that can uh flare up out allergies, and you know, there's those types of things, even you know, like smoke in the air or whatever they may be. Living in LA has taught me since the fires that there's still remnants of some of those chemicals that are still in the air, and I see people walking around, and I'm still walking around with my mask in the city outdoors, but it's a lot of different things, and people say, Well, masks don't really hold real merit behind that about protecting yourself. But for me, it's a placebo, but I also do know some masks do work, and you know that's why I wear my mask. So, but getting back to what I was saying, the mindset has evolved into realistic preparation. For example, power outages, boiling water, winter winter travel, back backing

Final Reflections And Listener Support

SPEAKER_00 25:30

up supplies, you know, like school supplies, batteries, things like that. For school and work disruptions, you know, you gotta be able to communicate and able to do your work or school remotely if something happens. So, in the sense of what happened, of extreme scenarios of a zombie apocalypse, came out of something of a practical prepared let's try it again. Practical preparedness. So, as you can see, you know, this critical experiment is lifelong for me. And you know, I do have a lot of critical thinking and being prepared many times of what I'm doing and where I'm going and just you know walking around. So, again, I'm not preaching to you, I'm just giving you my perspective. See, the real lesson wasn't about surviving zombies, you know, g in a way, you know. It was about being, you know, prepared for the unexpected. And I think that's what my dad was trying to do was to prepare me for unlikely scenarios and just to be able to adapt and survive and give his son the opportunity to have that mindset. And I think that's kind of like what a lot of indigenous people had carried throughout the generations before you know colonialization, before they were placed on reservations that these ideas of being able to adapt and survive, all sorts of stuff, you know, just to have that as passing from one generation to the next. And you know, like I said, that's that's the way I see it. So, what small disruptions in life could we be better prepared for? So think for a moment and ask that question again. What small disrupt disruptions in life could we be better prepared for? Well, I guess for me, just being prepared for you know having an extra bottle water, because we never know when we're gonna need an extra bottle of water. So it's one of the things that we do need to have, because you can survive three days without water, seven days without food, but water is more you know essential. So anyway, not to prepare, I mean not to be analytical, but that's just an idea, and I do have a bottle of water next to me, so that's what's giving me that prompt. Do we think about pre- Let's try this again? Do we think about preparation only during emergencies? And I think yes, we think about it and we're reactive, and we say, well, we should have done this, we should have done that, blah blah blah. I don't think we really prepare about what happens beforehand. And even so, the population and the conversation of the community is really small in preparing. But there are a few individuals that do prepare that do have blue blueprints and outlines for us to follow. So I would say there's a small group, but I still feel like we should be more actively engaged in that conversation of being prepared for emergencies. And lastly, what habits could we make us more resilient without living in fear? I think just knowing, just like for instance, you know, for a weather advisory, we know what to prepare for, you know, like snow, rain. Hey! Excuse me, sorry. See, that wasn't prepared, no one prepared you guys, but I sneezed, so you guys weren't preparing that wasn't part of the show, it was just something unprepared. And I hope I I hope I prove my point, you know, about living in fear. But sometimes we just have things that unexpectedly happen. And of course, that wasn't planned for, and I was really trying to fight that sneeze, but anyway, it came out. I apologize. So, to tie everything together, looking back, zombie apocalypse game was you know, it was a little bit about being scared about zombies, but it was also about being, you know, aware of my surroundings, and it was about thinking ahead. It was about asking what would I do if things suddenly change. And of course, 2022 2020 showed us that the unexpected can happen. Maybe real lessons you know the real lessons is the real lesson is this the goal is not living in fear of disasters, the goal is simply to be more prepared for life. So, with that being said, the final thought, because sometimes the differences between pain and calm is preparation. And I like to say again, thank you for the people that are listening, to all the people that are supported this podcast in the past couple days. I've seen all the numbers have increased. Thank you so much. If you look on the show notes on the description, you'll see a place where it says to support. If you like this material, if you like the podcast, you know, send a donation. I don't like asking for money, so that's why I'm a little hesitant of how to express that. But so far we got a few people that are supporters, and they said that they don't want to hear commercials. So for this month, I just told them that I wouldn't do any commercials. But I told them in the future that could change, just depending on you know what other people think. But if you go to the website, there's a little show note, and there's like um how to support the podcast, so it's there if you're interested. If not, no big deal, I'll still keep on producing episodes. And to the to the many people that have downloaded sh my ep on my podcast, I like to say thank you very much to to the supporters. Thank you so much. Want to say thank you to you know everyone I reached out to that's listened to it. You guys make the show, you guys inspire me to talk about these ideas, and also it's just one of those things I try to give back and not to preach, but to present it in a conversational atmosphere where you ask these where you ask yourself some of these questions and make you think about things in your own life and how it reflects on you, or you know, if you can take something away from it in a positive way and apply it to your life, then you know that's something good. One of the supporters had told me that listening to one of the first podcasts, I think it was the first episode, they were drawn to something I said, and I was like, Wow, I didn't have I didn't think I would have a profound message, and if you're getting something out of it, I do say that's part of the idea. So with that being said, sorry for going over this episode, but thank you, appreciate it. Wherever, whenever you are, have a good day, a good night, good evening, and take care of yourself and be good to yourself. Because yeah, that's also part of being prepared, is taking care of yourself as well. So, with that being said, have a good day, and as someone once told me, create yourself a great day.