Friday, March 13, 2020

It's not only toilet paper

Just a quick update to the previous post about the coronavirus panic toilet paper crisis.

As I said before, people were beginning to turn to paper towels in the absence of TP. Well, now there are no paper towels:


And it's not only the paper products. Here is the canned food aisle as of this morning:


Were you ready?

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"My kingdom for a roll!"



Preppers aren't looking quite so crazy right now, are they?

A family member works at PlastiCrap World (this may be a pseudonym) and told me their shelves have been stripped bare of treaty paper ("toilet paper") and the customers are freaking out.

They are getting call after call begging to know when the next truck is coming to restock. They get many trucks each day, and don't know which-- if any-- will have the precious rolls. People are waiting at the doors from the stockroom, hoping to be the first to grab the new shipment as soon as it hits the floor. They are starting to buy paper towels and napkins as an alternative.

Also, a friend told me Amazon was out of all TP except one brand-- one she doesn't like.

How long until violence erupts?

Meanwhile, I'm feeling good (well, other than being sick) with my stash of the stuff.

Bottled water is also sold out, as are Clorox spray and wipes (and I would suppose other disinfectants), and hand sanitizer, but people aren't panicking over that. Yet.

I wonder what other things people are panic-buying.

How is the situation in your area? What is in short supply? And were you ready?

Every time I saw some list of things you should have on hand to ride out the pandemic, I already had it all. I'm sure I don't have everything I could possibly need in every circumstance, but it's amazing how often my SHTF supplies have gotten me through normal situations without needing to stock up on anything at the last minute. That's the plan and so far it has worked great.

Another couple of bits of interesting data: That store usually gets 2000 online orders (to be picked up outside) per day. Yesterday, they had already received 9000 online orders by around 9AM. People were ordering online to avoid coming into the store.

All employees have been given hand sanitizer and gloves to wear.

And this isn't a particularly populous area. I can't even imagine what urban areas are going through-- or will be going through soon. And still, it looks to me as though the panic is a much bigger problem than the virus. Interesting times, indeed. I'll just sit here and stew in my own viral broth and watch the world burn.

I'll also remind you that there are alternatives to "treaty paper" for cleaning your hind side. As long as there's running water, especially. There's really no need to panic.

For a little context, this is the toilet paper aisle at the local branch of PlastiCrap World as of Thursday afternoon, March 12, 2020:

Plus, a bit of an update: link

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Writing to promote liberty is my job.
YOU get to decide if I get paid.
I hope I add something you find valuable enough to support.
♡2020 by Author/Artist. Copying is an act of love. Please copy.