The shelves at the local supermarket are bare, but that doesn't seem to be keeping the people away. I picked up a 10# bag of rice, just to be overly prepared - we're good for more than a month on full rations. But there is a palpable sense of panic in the aisles.
I guess people haven't heard of freezer chests and pantries ...
It's also interesting what people aren't buying. Canned goods and boxed pasta are flying off the shelf, but there's still plenty of other stuff still on the shelves.
ReplyDeleteWe went to Walmart this morning to visit an embedded diagnostics clinic and saw folks panic-bulk buying toilet paper and bottled water. We had done our own grocery run at Aldi the day before, so we got a few things we had forgotten. Their toilet paper was picked over, too, which is hard to understand because Aldi's toilet paper is terrible.
Sigh... They will find people bunkered in with toilet paper and water, an no food...
ReplyDeleteLet's look on the bright side...
ReplyDeleteThose of us that have been "prepping" for years?
We now look like geniuses.
Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst.
"Mr. Ant, meet the Grasshopper clan..."
ReplyDeleteThing is - I live on a mountainside so I stocked stuff years ago because WINTER. I should go through and do an inventory again but I know I have tp, dried beans, corn meal and wheat flour and baking powder, rice, couscous, pasta, dried veges, seasonings, a couple weeks of camping meals, and the ability to treat river water if necessary by either boiling or chemicals. I'll go out in a couple days because I want to make red beans and rice but the folks currently flooding our stores really should have the same stuff I have just because of were we live. No snow this year but 40 inches wasn't that long ago.
ReplyDeleteA Reader - Some folks are going to get some really good / useful data from this, seeing what people panic buy and what they don't. We got our first case last night so the folks that said they wouldn't panic freaked out and cleared what was left in the stores. Only slightly interferes with my normal stocking, Costco still has canned tuna but all the canned beef and chicken vaporized, I usually get a pack of each every other week or so. I'm in good shape over all but since my budget lets get better and I have room to store more I figure why not?
ReplyDeleteAt the local WalMart tonight (Silicon Valley) there was talk about them not opening tomorrow. Just a couple employees restocking the chillers, and no pallets of dry goods stacked up for the missing crew, along with maybe 4 cashiers up front. Quite a few more shoppers than I normally see at 11pm. No real rush, but most had a rather bemused look on their face. Canned goods and paper products were pretty much missing in action, and the bread area was looking sparse, except for the cookies and cakes.
ReplyDeleteAn Asian friend told me his daughter's private school had their first student test positive for the virus, so they closed the school. I'm thinking barn door, closing situation. How many got infected? Idiots.
Check the ramen noodle section. It's as bare as the toilet paper shelves, because it's all these newbie-preppers know how to cook!
ReplyDeleteWith the nearest (known) case hundreds of miles away, our local Publix was fairly well stocked, as it has been. The only exception was Not One Roll of toilet paper.
ReplyDeleteLast week they were out of those Clorox wipes, and still are. We get those to clean the grease off the stove and a few other things. They just clean better than anything else.
My wife opened a packet of chicken from our hurricane supplies yesterday. The packet expired in 2016. Still fine.
Turns out chickens in retort pouches and cans can't tell time or read a calendar.
ReplyDeleteWho'd'a thunk it?
There's been a run on frozen pizza in Dallas as of this morning. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteBut no one's panic buying beer and wine. Maybe I'll start.