i just finished this book and it was a lil too prophetic.

i agree that it would take ALOT for someone to survive the initial shock and it seemed like a stretch to accept that some one so young and saddled with her....."sensitivities" could survive in that world

i think no one of us REALLy know how we would react.....it's prolly just about getting over the initial shock.....managing not to assume the virtual fetal position....and pushing thru the eventual depression/despair

i suspect that i would prolly revert to days back in Nicaragua living on my family's farm....though these were brief stays in my early childhood.....i think this would go a loong way to help stave off the shock...we all have prolly picked up ALOT in our travels/readings/channel surfing.....etc....and have never had reason to salvage/call on these resources, given a situation like that if we worked collectively and didn't drown in our own anxiety we'd give ourselves a chance.