[MDixon]

I never realized I was a hoarder until this happened and I haven't actually needed to leave the house for anything.   

What I don't understand is the fascination with TP. Who are these people who need a gazillion rolls and OTOH who are these people who only buy it a roll at a time. Any commodity item which we will always need, like TP, I buy in bulk when it goes on sale.

[KellerBrauer]

My wife and I are retired.  We shop once a week for both us and my mother who I’ve asked to stay home.  Still, this week, the TP / paper towel / napkin isle was empty.  The cleaning supplies were also gone.  People are going nuts!

We have family in the great state of Mississippi and they tell us the stores are out of bullets!  Yes bullets!  I guess bullets are used in place of TP???  Kidding.  Seriously, though, people are so scared of this virus they’re going to extremes as if the end of the world is near.  Personally, I believe much of this fear is a result of reality shows like that Dooms Day (or something like that) show on TV.  People watch stuff like that and they now feel we’re living it.  It’s sad.

[Visor]

   Even with our massive brains humans are little different than lemmings. I've thought for a very long time than many if not most people actually get some level of enjoyment or satisfaction from being scared, otherwise why are Zombie apocalypse and other horror films so popular.
   While I don't condone hoarding for the purpose of resale gouging, I view it from the perspective that the people getting gouged have no one to blame but themselves. All transactions are voluntary, or the result of voluntary choices previously made, as with the previous example of people who never buy or keep on hand more than what they'll use in the next couple days and then become immediately desperate when the supply chain temporarily fails.
   As for bullets, I hope I live long enough to run out .

[BrewBama]

Since the stores can’t seem to keep distilled water on the shelves for some reason, I actually brushed off the old water additions for my tap water. It’s actually pretty good for Amber beers with a gram of minerals here and there. I’ll run it thru a filter and add some metabisulfate, let it sit overnight, and call it good. Back to the good ol days.


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[majorvices]

Since the stores can’t seem to keep distilled water on the shelves for some reason, I actually brushed off the old water additions for my tap water. It’s actually pretty good for Amber beers with a gram of minerals here and there. I’ll run it thru a filter and add some metabisulfate, let it sit overnight, and call it good. Back to the good ol days.


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Yep. Our water here is perfect for amber/reddish beer (hence "Rebellion red lager") and with some calcium chloride and acid additions it does fine with paler beers as well.

[MDixon]

No need to hoard if you have ammunition - just sayin'

The reality is I have seen people almost lose it during a multi-day power outage in a close by area. All it would take for society to collapse is a loss of internet or power for a week in urban and suburban areas.

[Northern_Brewer]

What I don't understand is why people are hoarding flour? I actually like to bake - I make cakes, cookies and lots of bread. I went today and found one small bag of Organic All Purpose Flour and I bought it. I asked the cashier kid why so many people were hoarding flour. "To make bread?" He said. I asked him "how many people do you really think know how to make bread?" I'll add the bread isle is mostly full. 

True of a lot of things, the long-life versions are gone from the shelves whereas the short-life versions are in reasonable supply. So eg fresh milk has generally been OK, long-life milk is a problem, fresh meat hasn't been too bad, we've struggled locally with bread a bit, flour and bread yeast are long gone. No pasta, but the price of potatoes has crashed as all the fish & chip shops are closed....

And there is a reasonable argument for getting enough food in stock to survive 14 days of isolation - but most people seem to be going for 8 months taking a dump and 7 days of food...

Making bread isn't that difficult though, and is the sort of thing that people think "well I'll get into that when I have the time" - doesn't help that we've had a celebrity chef doing "how to make bread for the first time" on primetime TV.... Of course, the best way to grow up some yeast for bread is to make beer/cider! I've never really thought about that before, those medieval brewers were just preparing ingredients for their breadmaking.

[Slowbrew]

No need to hoard if you have ammunition - just sayin'

The reality is I have seen people almost lose it during a multi-day power outage in a close by area. All it would take for society to collapse is a loss of internet or power for a week in urban and suburban areas.

It's been a running joke that now-a-days when people hear there's a snow storm coming, they all have to run out and buy milk and bread.  We live in a major suburb of the largest city in Iowa... we have never been snowed in for more than 20 hours in the 27 years I've lived here.  If we need milk and bread, it is because we haven't gone grocery shopping for over a week.  A person I know who works at the biggest grocery store company recently told me they are seeing people do the same thing when big thunderstorms are forecast.  The average thunderstorm is a 5 hour event, at worst.

We did lose power for over a week once.  Just our block.  Everyone around us had power back in less than 24 hours.  I met one of neighbors by going over and asking if I could plug a coffee pot into one of their outdoor outlets each morning.  We all thought it was funny.

Now, I'm hearing there may be shortages of bedding plants for vegetable gardens this Spring.  Folks, if you don't know how to garden, now is not the time to start.  You're better off reaching out to your neighbor who as always gardened to see if you can assist in some way for a share of fresh veggies.

Crazy times for sure.

Paul

[riceral]

The reality is I have seen people almost lose it during a multi-day power outage in a close by area. All it would take for society to collapse is a loss of internet or power for a week in urban and suburban areas.

Reminds me of an episode on The Twilight Zone, "The Monsters are Due on Maple Street".   

Maybe not a week in the episode but it's the same type thing.

[Northern_Brewer]

Now, I'm hearing there may be shortages of bedding plants for vegetable gardens this Spring.  Folks, if you don't know how to garden, now is not the time to start.  You're better off reaching out to your neighbor who as always gardened to see if you can assist in some way for a share of fresh veggies.

It's more than just the produce thing, an equal factor is people who may very well know how to garden, but just haven't had the time. And it's also a nice thing to do with kids.

See here for some of the other things that have been selling out in the UK : https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52066454 - should also mention homebrew supplies....

But in general here things are getting a lot better now after 10-14 days of real problems, you're even seeing things like pasta after 9am, although things are still tight for a few things - apparently flour and cooking oil are a bit of a problem still. Just basic precautions like limiting people to one shopping trolley help a lot.

[denny]

Hurray!  Finally got flour with my grocery order!

[Visor]

  I went grocery shopping today, short list of mostly things that were sold out last trip. I actually saw one 12 roll pack of TP - unfortunately it was in the cart of the person in line ahead of me at the checkout, the early bird get's the worm as they say. I didn't pay really close attention but for the most part the shelves seemed to be reasonably well stocked for most things other than paper products, that aisle was bare except for one forlorn looking group of a few dozen packages of paper towels. I guess to put it in a different perspective, in a GUM store in Moscow circa 1975 that would have qualified as an abundance of luxury goods.

[BrewBama]

... I guess to put it in a different perspective, in a GUM store in Moscow circa 1975 that would have qualified as an abundance of luxury goods.

I was thinking the same thing the other day! 


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[MDixon]

In the South people run out to get milk and bread in the event of a snow storm. I really don't know why exactly, but a decent snowfall can cripple us for several days due to a lack of snow moving equipment and tons of roads. I think this winter we had two snow events and neither required plowing afterwards, but did require the crews to prep the roads before the event.

Anyway, if you have milk and bread you can always make a milk sandwich! 

[Steve Ruch]

Hurray!  Finally got flour with my grocery order!

Good for you.