I had a personal panic yesterday. I calmed down by the evening. But I get it. This is new territory for many of us.
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It’s happening here in Ireland too.
I have a theory that because toilet paper and water are cheap, you can literally fill a trolley with them for little cost, and you feel like you’ve taken some kind of positive action which will reduce your anxiety.
I have often made weird purchases through anxiety.
That’s why I own a Geiger counter.
And a zombie-apocalypse bug-out van…
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Where’s this when you need it?
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I see what you did there.
I wonder how many people in that swarm were already infected with COVID-19 (but didn’t yet know it) and how many others were infected as they were pushing and shoving to try to get one (or two or three) packages of TP. After all, people are no longer congregating at sporting events, work, or other locations. One of the main places people are gathering in large numbers now are grocery stores …
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I have a degree of self-consciousness that’s maybe a little over-developed, but I’m kind of dreading the fact that tonight is my normal grocery shopping night. I need some TP in addition to my produce and such, and I want to walk in the store shouting “I’m not in a panic, I just am running low on the 24 pack I bought a while back!”
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It’s times like these when I really appreciate my bidet.
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Yeah, that and the upcoming spring weather will make this a whole lot more bearable. Even if power goes out, the personnel needed to provide clean water is pretty slim compared to other infrastructure and it will be doable.
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My poor friend works at Costco. He turned over shopping carts to make a barricade so people had to stay in line. People were trying to cut. Fights nearly broke out. Those poor employees need some time off.
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OMG, now I’ve got to stock up on washcloths before they’re all gone!
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Our local Safeway in Boulder, CO was fine on meat yesterday, but there was no frozen vegetables to be had. Interesting times indeed.
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Doing the rounds so far today and I’ve seen a lot of shopping carts full to the brim with pasta. My coworker in the next sales territory over says there’s no first aid supplies left at any of her accounts.
Things got fucking weird since yesterday.
On the plus side we’re starting to sell a shit ton of beer at supermarkets. Offsetting the completely dead restaurant and beer distributor market a bit.
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In the economy emerging from the crater, toilet paper will become the new form of currency
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If this keeps up much longer then I’m afraid they will get plenty of time off - whether they want it or not.
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The main concern isn’t running out of basics, but being unable to get them to where they are needed. Logistics when half your longshoremen, stockers and truckers are sick are a bitch.
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I’ve found that at least with pinto beans, there actually is a sort of shelf life. Old pintos are almost impossible to fully cook.
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I actually bought a bidet only to find out that I need a tank type toilet to use it. Oh well, the shower is next to the toilet. Anybody want a bidet for cheap?
Some of the conspiracy theory set are pushing the line that all of the toilet paper comes from China and they have cut off supplies. Every half listened to news story about panic purchases fuels it. It isn’t hard to extend that toother paper products.
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Ah, I remember hearing something like that, too now that you mention it. Thanks for the heads up!
That might speak very well to the original run.
I think the other end of it is the empty or thinly stocked shelves. Which I’m seeing a lot of. But that has less to do with any legitimate shortage of anything than the time of year this happened.
For most of the country winter is the slowest time of year for super markets and retail in general. And Grocery spots along with restaurants and bars have just gone through one of the slowest off seasons in a decade.
Generally speaking everyone has been keeping stock very light, from the retailers through the wholesalers. Especially in less dense and more seasonal areas.
It only takes one area where those smaller stores can’t keep up with shelving shit. Even if there’s plenty of stuff in the back (and often enough their is from what I’m seeing) for bare shelves to be the story. Once it’s the story people start to rush out. And the bare shelves spread.
This just came on very quickly before anyone could order up ahead of the rush.
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