Panic Buying
Today I went up to Sam's Club to pick up some salt for the water softener. The place was a madhouse. I saw people piling carts with five, ten, a dozen cases of bottled waters. Others had multiple cartons of eggs or other commonplace household items.
While it does make sense to stock up on necessities in anticipation of a probable disruption of services, some people's choices seemed rather odd, especially the guy with the multiple cartons of eggs. Unless he's someone who makes scrambled eggs every day for a sizeable family, eggs do not last indefinitely. It makes a lot more sense to buy a moderate amount of perishable goods, enough for a few days, but concentrate longer-term preparations on things that can keep indefinitely without refrigeration, and have at least some of them be things that do not require cooking or other preparation.
While it does make sense to stock up on necessities in anticipation of a probable disruption of services, some people's choices seemed rather odd, especially the guy with the multiple cartons of eggs. Unless he's someone who makes scrambled eggs every day for a sizeable family, eggs do not last indefinitely. It makes a lot more sense to buy a moderate amount of perishable goods, enough for a few days, but concentrate longer-term preparations on things that can keep indefinitely without refrigeration, and have at least some of them be things that do not require cooking or other preparation.