I am well aware that we human beings have some rather unique tendencies, and i'm also old enough and wise enough to know that the media can take a certain perspective and inflate that perspective to insure it's 'newsworthy' but the scene that greeted my wife and I in Costco yesterday was one you might normally see on a Netflix box set, or Episode 1, season 1 of the Walking Dead.
I get that the Coronavirus can be serious, and being vigilant is key to restricting it's spread, but the chaos we witnessed over by the empty pallets of loo roll was more worrying and could be perceived as far more concerning than the threat of any imminent pandemic by people that weren't of a sound mind.
I'm a sensible chap, and I like to think I know how to act in most situations, with a calm logical approach to pretty much anything, but even I was thinking 'should I be doing this too'
For those who don't use Costco, they have unusually large trolleys (that are a pain to steer because only the rear wheels swivel, but that's another story) This wasn't a few people, it was dozens. Costco sell toilet roll in a large clear sack, and each sack contains 12 or so, multi packs of 4, so basically a lot of loo roll that is really good quality. People stacked sacks on top of sacks, meaning 100s of loo rolls per person (i'm being polite by calling them a person) Not only loo rolls, but bottled water piled so high, they needed 2 people to push the trolly because of the weight.
These people didn't give a single thought to those of us that just wanted a single pack as our normal monthly shop. We watched as they panicked and shouted at staff when the pallets were empty, then proceeded to grab sacks of kitchen roll as if it was Black Friday on a Youtube clip in America.
Now... many of us stood there in disbelief asking what the hell was going on. I even pulled up my BBC news app incase something major had happened, but quickly realised that these people were 'panic buying' with the odd lowlife thrown in that thought they could profit over this panic.
I'm no doctor, and i'm certainly no Flu expert, but 100s of packs of toilet rolls might not be the cure. I'm also not aware of our local water authority switching off the water supply anytime soon.
Here is the best advice I can give to all.
I get that the Coronavirus can be serious, and being vigilant is key to restricting it's spread, but the chaos we witnessed over by the empty pallets of loo roll was more worrying and could be perceived as far more concerning than the threat of any imminent pandemic by people that weren't of a sound mind.
I'm a sensible chap, and I like to think I know how to act in most situations, with a calm logical approach to pretty much anything, but even I was thinking 'should I be doing this too'
For those who don't use Costco, they have unusually large trolleys (that are a pain to steer because only the rear wheels swivel, but that's another story) This wasn't a few people, it was dozens. Costco sell toilet roll in a large clear sack, and each sack contains 12 or so, multi packs of 4, so basically a lot of loo roll that is really good quality. People stacked sacks on top of sacks, meaning 100s of loo rolls per person (i'm being polite by calling them a person) Not only loo rolls, but bottled water piled so high, they needed 2 people to push the trolly because of the weight.
These people didn't give a single thought to those of us that just wanted a single pack as our normal monthly shop. We watched as they panicked and shouted at staff when the pallets were empty, then proceeded to grab sacks of kitchen roll as if it was Black Friday on a Youtube clip in America.
Now... many of us stood there in disbelief asking what the hell was going on. I even pulled up my BBC news app incase something major had happened, but quickly realised that these people were 'panic buying' with the odd lowlife thrown in that thought they could profit over this panic.
I'm no doctor, and i'm certainly no Flu expert, but 100s of packs of toilet rolls might not be the cure. I'm also not aware of our local water authority switching off the water supply anytime soon.
Here is the best advice I can give to all.
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