Plan B does not invite disaster
Superstitious common sense sometimes treats preparing for a bad scenario as a sign of distrust or a way to “tempt fate”. A backup, a first aid kit and a second exit work in exactly the opposite way: they cut the cost of the event if it does happen.
A backup does not raise the odds of a failure. A first aid kit does not attract injuries. A second exit does not insult the main one.
It helps to prepare not for “the worst thing imaginable” but for a few realistic failures:
- what is likely;
- what would do serious damage;
- what can be prevented cheaply;
- what would demand immediate action.
For a home that might be:
- fire;
- a power cut;
- a water leak;
- lost keys;
- having to leave in a hurry.
For a trip:
- a delay;
- lost documents;
- illness;
- no phone signal;
- running out of money;
- the group getting separated.
Preparation covers not just objects but knowledge:
- where the water shuts off;
- how to cut the power;
- who to call;
- where the documents are;
- how to get out;
- where to meet if the phones are down.
At the same time, permanent preparation for every possible disaster turns safety into a form of anxiety.
A good plan B is short, realistic and tested from time to time. It doesn’t require you to live every day inside a catastrophe that hasn’t happened yet.
An untested plan B differs from superstition less than one would like. A backup that has never been restored is a feeling of safety with unknown contents: it can write an empty folder for years, and you get to find that out exactly once. A valve you know the location of but have never turned will be seized when the moment comes, with a cupboard standing in front of it. A first aid kit unopened since the move contains what has expired and not what you need.
The only thing that separates preparation from ritual is having gone through it once in full. Restore one file from the backup, turn the valve all the way and back, find the torch in the dark. An hour a year, and it is mostly insurance against your own optimism.