My father always had a job and worked for Sun Oil Co. in east Texas and he always had a big garden so food wasn't a problem. However, they grew up in rural Arkansas where everyone had an outhouse. Our house in east Texas had four rooms and there was no indoor toilet until I was a sophomore in high school. I used the bathroom at school every day for No. 2, ‘cause I hated that outhouse. At night, each of us had a “chamber pot” under the bed in case we had to use one.
I thought if I ever got out of that house to live my life, I would have bathrooms. Now, I have two full and one half bathrooms.
So, what is happening now? If power goes out, water goes out, and I'm back to no working bathroom. This was not in my life plan to go backwards in bathrooms. I have worked out how to have a potty in the house even if water/sewer goes off and I have enough wet wipes for four people for a year. I am not going back to an outhouse, no way.
I am so old I have seen this country advance in miraculous ways, and now we may go back to the 1800s way of life. I OBJECT, I will keep my standard of living in my country (I am President For Life of my country - my house and back garden) regardless of what happens to this country.
Our house was built during the late 1800s, so I know that there were once outhouses on this property. Using a metal detector (I don’t own one yet), I may someday discover exactly where they were... that is where untold treasures may be hidden. I own a backhoe, so it would be easy to dig them up.
If our septic system were to go down for an extended time, I’ll dig a pit and use the Airstream trailer for our bathroom. ;>)