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I've never been a "prepper" of any kind. If there's a snowstorm or similar, I keep a few days extra food in the fridge. Beyond that, nothing more than what I'd regularly check out once at Sam's or Costco.
With coronavirus, I felt that I needed to go out and get things a few weeks ago. From everything I had read, it looked like things might get bad - quickly.
I began to stockpile extra food, cleaning supplies, and sanitizer three Saturdays ago. At that time, everything was available as normal.
By the next week, there was clearly some "stocking up" at Sam's and Walmart, but not a "run." Other than sanitizer, everything was available. This was two weeks ago today, on a Saturday. I bought a lot.
I went back to Sam's and Walmart the following Thursday. Sam's was mostly fine, but Walmart was picked over. I got a bit more.
I went to Costco two hours away Sunday. They were well-stocked. I bought more. I went to Kroger today and bought even more.
I'm a single guy in a townhouse in a small city unlikely to have major infection.
Before I knew it, I had 200 bottles of flavored water. A gallon of hand soap. Six gallons and a 24 pack more of plain water. 525 floss picks. Two gallons of hand soap. A 35 pack of green tea. Multiple cases of soft drinks - probably a hundred can-equivalents of Diet Coke, Diet Dew, and other soft drinks. A case of Diet Red Bell. 72 beers. Two half-gallons of OJ. Multiple containers of other fruit juices. Six bottles of wine. A big thing of Clif Bars from Sam's. A 45 pack of Apple Sauce. About thirty pounds of frozen meat, many, many servings of frozen veggies. 40 cans of veggies - probably another ten to fifteen cans of soup and tomatoes/okra/corn. That's just what I remember.
I just want to keep buying! I have more than I could reasonably need - if I burn my supplies to zero, we're really screwed. My parents have a second fridge, an upright freezer, and a chest freezer, and I keep wanting to buy and bring more supplies over there. With this virus, I'm in fear of commonly available items disappearing, and I want to hoard everything.
That sounds like an uncomfortable level of anxiety. If you were to get sick, none of those things would appeal to you. I can't imagine having flu and craving 72 beers and 45 apple sauces. Or one of either. Or any okra.
I think people are afraid of shortages because the media is causing people to be afraid of shortages which is making them shop and create shortages. In my area, the shelves are bare of toilet paper, bottled water, and bread. Today I was off and heard no news, watched no news, and felt better than I have all week.
And I'm not making light of how you feel. When I knew I was moving out of state, I started buying foreign sauces and spices that I was sure I wouldn't be able to find where I was going. I had boxes full of them from shopping trips to Chinatown and Little India and one day I realized I was just trying really hard to hang on to what I was used to. I think you already have that feeling that no amount of stuff will ever be enough because having that stuff isn't really the problem.
Part of it is an attempt to control your environment based on a fear that other forces may control it at some point.
It reminds me of the day I opened a coat closet in my grandmother's apartment to find it stocked floor to ceiling with canned goods. She had grown up during the Great Depression, but this was in 1994.
That sounds like an uncomfortable level of anxiety. If you were to get sick, none of those things would appeal to you. I can't imagine having flu and craving 72 beers and 45 apple sauces. Or one of either. Or any okra.
That's an interesting point. If you're actually sick, you'd need tissues and ibuprofen and cough medicine on hand. Not beer and floss.
I've never been a "prepper" of any kind. If there's a snowstorm or similar, I keep a few days extra food in the fridge. Beyond that, nothing more than what I'd regularly check out once at Sam's or Costco.
With coronavirus, I felt that I needed to go out and get things a few weeks ago. From everything I had read, it looked like things might get bad - quickly.
I began to stockpile extra food, cleaning supplies, and sanitizer three Saturdays ago. At that time, everything was available as normal.
By the next week, there was clearly some "stocking up" at Sam's and Walmart, but not a "run." Other than sanitizer, everything was available. This was two weeks ago today, on a Saturday. I bought a lot.
I went back to Sam's and Walmart the following Thursday. Sam's was mostly fine, but Walmart was picked over. I got a bit more.
I went to Costco two hours away Sunday. They were well-stocked. I bought more. I went to Kroger today and bought even more.
I'm a single guy in a townhouse in a small city unlikely to have major infection.
Before I knew it, I had 200 bottles of flavored water. A gallon of hand soap. Six gallons and a 24 pack more of plain water. 525 floss picks. Two gallons of hand soap. A 35 pack of green tea. Multiple cases of soft drinks - probably a hundred can-equivalents of Diet Coke, Diet Dew, and other soft drinks. A case of Diet Red Bell. 72 beers. Two half-gallons of OJ. Multiple containers of other fruit juices. Six bottles of wine. A big thing of Clif Bars from Sam's. A 45 pack of Apple Sauce. About thirty pounds of frozen meat, many, many servings of frozen veggies. 40 cans of veggies - probably another ten to fifteen cans of soup and tomatoes/okra/corn. That's just what I remember.
I just want to keep buying! I have more than I could reasonably need - if I burn my supplies to zero, we're really screwed. My parents have a second fridge, an upright freezer, and a chest freezer, and I keep wanting to buy and bring more supplies over there. With this virus, I'm in fear of commonly available items disappearing, and I want to hoard everything.
How many of your feel similarly?
I "prep" a bit because of where I live. I don't wait until I'm entirely out of something to restock, but I don't hoard either. There are hundreds of items I can do without or substitute with something else. The point is, I know the difference between irreplaceable and replaceable, the multiple purpose staple and the merely convenient. We're really at the end of a lot of supply chains in this town and most folks realize that. But, all of us chose to face that reality when we chose to live here. Some thinking in this manner is good. Keeps you from panicking, getting unbalanced, just sticking to reason. Reason tells you at what point to stop. It is a rehearsal of mind. Learning to analyze potential futures. It is a learned skill and comes with experience in being independent. If you've never had to think this way chances are you will panic, allow yourself to be influenced by horror stories, media, and lemming-think. Even now I wouldn't go to the extreme you did. The idiocy of hoarding TP comes to mind. Do people really believe there is nothing else they could possibly use to clean their butts?
You're OK, most of what you bought will not expire. I had to chuckle reading your list of supplies, you're ready for Armageddon. At least you're aware of what you're doing and that's panic buying. Keep in mind that others won't be as well prepared and with many people hoarding food and supplies, there's nothing left for people who haven't thought ahead, and for those who aren't taking this seriously. No one really knows what we're up against yet because there hasn't been enough testing to know. But you should settle back, put your feed up, and have a drink. There's nothing to support that there's going to be a nuclear holocaust, where food and supplies will dry up. The supply chains may be interrupted a bit, but most of the paper goods comes from China and they're coming back on line, and the factories that produce food, disinfectants, etc., in the US are ramping up and it will actually help their bottom line. So put your wallet away, you're safe, and if you're not, we're all in trouble!
Honestly, you sound like you've gotten a little nutty. Stop watching the news.
I love this! OP, The more I read, the funnier it got, OP. I was giggling. OTOH, I wish now I'd gotten out there earlier, like 3 weeks ago, but my state only got its first cases a few days ago, so I saw no need. Unbeknownst to me (and my friends and associates, all of whom have remained calm, and haven't stocked up on anything), lots of people were panicking and hoarding. The timeline is about the same as your observations. 3 weeks ago it started (according to store employees), and hand sanitizer ran out after the first 10 days, and no more shipments have come into the stores!
Anyway, yeah, it sounds like you went a bit shop-aholic on yourself. It's a good lesson in how these things can affect people. Fortunately, I don't have a TV. I recommend taking a media break.
You're OK, most of what you bought will not expire. I had to chuckle reading your list of supplies, you're ready for Armageddon. At least you're aware of what you're doing and that's panic buying. Keep in mind that others won't be as well prepared and with many people hoarding food and supplies, there's nothing left for people who haven't thought ahead, and for those who aren't taking this seriously. No one really knows what we're up against yet because there hasn't been enough testing to know. But you should settle back, put your feed up, and have a drink. There's nothing to support that there's going to be a nuclear holocaust, where food and supplies will dry up. The supply chains may be interrupted a bit, but most of the paper goods comes from China and they're coming back on line, and the factories that produce food, disinfectants, etc., in the US are ramping up and it will actually help their bottom line. So put your wallet away, you're safe, and if you're not, we're all in trouble!
And Tiawanese manufacturers are making out like bandits! Taiwan apparently has done as good a job as can be hoped, in containing the situation (at least report) so they're taking over some of the market China lost.
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