As I walked the mile down the hill to town the other day I suddenly became aware of the passing of time. I managed to reach my destination without talking to a living soul! I was not trying to avoid people; it was that I saw nobody on my expedition. How life has changed over the past 31 years.

The journey once I leave my small estate has more houses now than it had when I first arrived in this town. One side had houses all the way, some set back from the road with the boundary marked by high walls, and further along a long terrace with postcard sized front gardens. These gardens were so small that I actually remember seeing an old man regularly cutting his square of grass with a large scissors! An opening led to a small Housing Executive Estate where on a sunny day the women stood at their front doors chatting. The once green area on the far side now sports apartments, town-houses and a small estate of semi- detached houses before joining an old terraced row that faces directly onto the street. There are more cars now, but where are the people?

In my early married life there were always people about no matter what time of day it was. The early morning saw folk walking briskly to work and children sauntering along on the way to school. Later women armed with shopping bags hurried to find the fresh bread, vegetables, meat or fish for that day’s main meal. Everyone had a word of greeting as they passed, some stopping for a chat or the opportunity to share the latest gossip, or perhaps dig for a fresh snippet of news. Every second shop on the main street was a ‘Home Bakery’ but they never heard of fresh cream in those days or of a Coffee Shop.

The town has changed over the years as has the world. Every other house has a satellite dish on the roof, a car or three on the drive and every modern convenience indoors, yet you seldom see the occupants. With modern day internet it is possible to purchase every bite we eat, every stitch we wear and everything we need for living, pay our bills and deal with the bank all at the press of a button. There is no need to go out.

Now if the worst happened (and everyone in the South of Ireland is prepared, we know that, because the Irish Government has sent out books of instructions on how to cope with all eventualities) how long would you survive if trapped in your home?

I did a test and should last for:

Created by OnePlusYou

What about you?

Update: If you click on the link go to the bottom of the page for the Quizzes.