Off-Topic: Coronavirus Panic Buying Update

A Trader Joe's

I went to Smith’s. There was practically no beef left and no chicken. Certainly no ground beef. Lots of pork and other meat. Vegetables had been picked over but there were still plenty of produce. Can go to been picked over but there’s plenty of that. No Ramen left. And of course toilet paper and paper towels are wiped out. No water but people are still loading up on soda. One guy was bitching about people panicking but swearing loudly and looked kind of upset that there wasn’t whatever canned goods he was looking for. I wore a mask and gloves which was slightly entertaining and I forgot how much it sucks to wear those things. A few other people were in PPE as well, but we were in the minority.

I've been told that the Trader Joe's in Henderson has been stripped bare, or thereabouts. Today will get stupid. Smith's was as busy as it is mid-morning at 7 AM. People seemed a little on edge, but cool. Just wait until all the people who had no idea there was a problem until yesterday show up to find stuff is gone. The shelves will be bare tomorrow morning.

I've simply being doing extra heavy grocery shops in the last few weeks and ordering non-food items online. Why hasn't everyone been doing this? We're planning on a disruption of a few months that may make it difficult to buy stuff.

As the saying goes, this too shall pass. I figure about a month before the panic buying stops and stock returns to normal. Over the next few weeks, those with bare pantries will need to return to the grocery store frequently to replace things. Multiple trips to the store will increase their vulnerability to infection (and infecting others). The goal is to stay home. Fast food visits will probably go up for some people too, which will mean infecting employees and vise versa.

Don't forget you can go outside. Go for walks. Talk to neighbors at a distance. Visit the park, but wash your hands! Enjoy Lake Mead, Lake Tahoe, Mt. Charleston, Red Rock, and the vast mesquite filled wasteland that the BLM has to offer. 

Flatten the curve; we need to slow down the rate of infections so the hospitals aren't overwhelmed. Treating this as NOT "just the flu" means that your parent, grandparent, or that nice elderly neighbor doesn't get sick, or if they do, they can get oxygen and medical care. 

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