This blog is offered as part of our Pumpkin Spice and Everything Nice series this Fall, although admittedly there’s nothing particularly nice about the zombie apocalypse. Read on.
The term “binge watching” entered my vocabulary earlier this year when a friend convinced us to watch the Breaking Bad marathon on AMC. It was winter, and cold, and there was nothing to do, so every night for three weeks my husband and I consumed two, maybe three episodes of this drug-crazed thriller.
I liked it, kinda sorta. I liked the sense of accomplishment of making it through the series better.
Fast forward to this past summer and AMC offered a new marathon for The Walking Dead. Labelled the “Dead, White and Blue” weekend, we turned our PVR on and built up the series, with a goal to be finished watching it by the time the fifth season started on October 12th.
The Walking Dead was not something I could binge watch. In fact, watching more than 2 or 3 episodes a week was difficult. It’s tough. With the exception of Daryl Dixon, who is quite frankly the most smouldering outdoorsy-type character I’ve ever seen on the screen (read into that what you wish), my favourite characters have all died in gruesome hard-to-watch deaths.
The brutality.
The humanity.
It is riveting.
I like apocalyptic stories. They make me think about alternate futures, and to somewhat plan for them.
Consider these situations:
What would you do if food production as you knew it halted? What would you eat? Would you kill to get it?
Could you start a fire? How would you behave if danger was always imminent? Could you sleep if there was no bed? Could you survive if there was no roof over you? Could you hot-wire a car? Could you have accurate aim?
Think about this in an HR context. If the zombie apocalypse was to occur:
What criteria would you use to determine if someone was trustworthy? If he/she would fit into your clan? If he/she had the right talents to help your clan survive? If he/she were a hard worker?
How would you deal with someone if they broke the code? If he/she took unnecessary risks? If he/she achieved the big result?
Could you be handy? Could you adjust to regular new normal?
Could you find happiness?
Could you be the one who stabs a good friend in the head before they turn into a zombie?
Could you?