COVID-19 - Ancients Central - Caronavirus Posts Here!!!

It's sort of a Prisoner's Dilemma situation.

Everybody is better off if nobody panic buys; if everybody panic buys everybody is worse off.

But if you panic buy, then I have to panic buy too, because I don't know when I can get those items again.

Thus, everybody ends up panic buying and nobody wins. Everybody loses when everybody thinks only about themselves.

 

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Like most employers in the tech sector, my employer has closed all offices for most employees so I'll be working from home at least until April, possibly longer. Thankfully, my wife and I have plenty of extra frozen and canned food(we're still eating stuff from last summer's garden), so we aren't too worried about the run on grocery stores but it would be nice to get a little fresh fruit. The biggest impact we've had so far is that it dampened the plans we had for my wife's birthday as the event we'd planned to go to was canceled, but that's understandable.

Personally, I plan to just take this as a nice two week break to try and get caught up on things around the house, some writing I've been working on and some coin cataloging I'm a little behind on. The most difficult part will be getting over my cabin fever: I have trouble staying home all day, even if I have nothing to actually do outside the house. hopefully this whole thing will help break that. We'll see

 

Panic buying has hit Ossining, NY! My wife just sent me out to buy a few items--cabbage, Triscuit crackers and some green scouring pads.

It wasn't pretty.

I went to C-Town first because they have good produce. Nothing particularly alarming there--shelves well stocked, everyone relatively relaxed, going about their business. Checkout lines a little longer than usual, but nothing alarming. Apropos of not much, C-Town caters mainly to the local Latino population. Maybe that's why they don't carry Triscuits or green scouring pads.

So I drove across town to pick them up at Stop 'n' Shop, where the brittle, white, BMW drivers all shop. Holy cow! I walk into the produce section, and the shelves are empty. Turn the corner: no meat! The aisles are jammed with people, some wearing surgical masks--do these people realize that everyone in that store is secretly hoping they get the virus?--running around, pushing their shopping carts into each other, not even trying to avoid the weak and fallen, many of whom are whimpering and curled up in fetal positions, desperately--and generally unsuccessfully--trying to protect vital organs.

I know what I have to do: Triscuits and green scouring pads! I go into Rambo mode. I abandon my shopping cart, turning it sideways in the middle of the aisle in a fruitless attempt to slow down the competition. I tear through the canned soups toward the cleaning supplies. There's a frail, elderly woman standing in front of the scouring pads. I can see from a distance that there's only one box left. Is she going to grab it?

I can't take the chance. I run up to the scouring pads, push her aside, grab the box and stuff it down my pants so that no one who saw me will try to take it from me. Suddenly, WHAM! She starts pounding me with her purse, calling me horrible names like "rude" and "inconsiderate." I kick at her ankles and she falls to the floor. I'm safe. Next, the cracker aisle!

Here's where things get really sticky. There's this guy there, must be about 6' 8" tall, 250 pounds or so--probably a linebacker for the NY Giants--and he's just taken the last box of Triscuits off the shelf. Normally I would turn away, but today I can't: my adrenaline is already squirting out of my tear ducts, and I am going on pure amygdala energy. I knee him--never mind where; I'm not proud of this--and as he doubles over I snatch the Triscuits from his hands and run. I run right out the doors without paying for anything.

But I made it. I got home in one piece, triumphantly waving the cabbage, Triscuits and green scouring pads over my head--not easy to do--as my wife looks up from her book nonchalantly and wonders what all the fuss is about.

I should probably go back to Stop 'n' Shop and pay for the items I took. But not right away. I'm worried that right now there's still this 6'8" linebacker storming through the store, knocking over shopping carts and shelves and shouting "Where is he? Where is he?"

 

Your daily mail might be another potential source of viral intrusion into your home - handle with care, dispose of envelopes & wash your hands afterwards - stay safe!

 

I hate when that happens.

 

And then there are scumbags like this guy. I hope he receives what is coming to him. Karma and what-not...
https://www.nytimes.com./2020/03/14/technology/coronavirus-purell-wipes-amazon-sellers.html

 

I just came back from our local grocery store. I went to grab a few things for dinner tonight and some milk for in the morning. I was suppose to get a bag of potatoes, but, sold out. Most fresh produce gone! Checking out the rest of the store, there was no bread, no paper products and the meat section was nearly wiped out. All but the potatoes, I got what I was sent to get, but I'm either stupid or am missing something. Why are people panic buying is beyond my comprehension.

 

In Louisiana, all schools are closed through April, and all public gatherings of 250+ people banned at least through April 13. Here in New Orleans, our tourism industry is about to get crushed, which is going to have a devastating effect on the roughly 100,000 people who work in it -- most of them hourly/tipped workers with no sick leave, meager to no health insurance, and seldom any real savings. Two of our biggest festivals have been postponed from spring to fall. Ultimately, I think the economic impacts, here and worldwide, are going to be greater than the health impacts. In the meantime, I am going to get a lot of yard and house work done and try not to drink too much.

 

People don’t seem to realize that fresh produce DOES NOT LAST!
One week, maybe two and it’s rotten.

Bread doesn’t last much longer than a week. Milk and eggs, 10 days. And yet these items are hoarded for whatever reason

 

The great thing is though, once you're out of food, the toilet paper lasts longer.

 

The TP is what I'm having the most trouble understanding. TP? Really. If I were going to hoard something, TP would not make the top 100 of my list of items. This is a real question. WHY THE TP?

 

The people hoarding it are a bunch of ***holes.

 

I suspect that it's some sort of primal instinct certain people get in a crisis, whether it's a hurricane or an epidemic: they're afraid that they'll be trapped at home indefinitely without toilet paper, and will end up having to use old newspapers or books, or their hands. There was probably a run on sponge sticks during the plague of Justinian.

 

The only food staple we hoard is butter. Four times a year the Metro store reduces Lactantia 1 lb. butter from $6.99 to $2.99/ so I get a case of 50 and put them in freezer/ lasts us about 6 months. Toilet paper/ towels???????

 

Why butter? Do you use that much? Do you eat it with a spoon?

I use buttero on very rare occassions - potatoes, toast, sometimes clam chowder.

 

What quantity do you consider "hoarding"?

From the CDC's website: "Consider 2-week supply of prescription and over the counter medications, food and other essentials. Know how to get food delivered if possible." Toilet paper would be considered an essential, although you can use washable rags, newspaper (does anyone get newspapers anymore though? ), etc.

So, if someone has a family of four, how many rolls do they use in 2 weeks? Perhaps most of the people buying TP are buying a sensible amount. Who knows how many people they are buying for?

Stores weren't expecting COVID-19; their par levels can't keep up with demand at the moment.

 

Nowhere is this considered "sensible".

 

Met a French friend today while waiting in line to check out books at the library before it might close – her laconic comment on the TP situation: "Cela prouve que les Américains devraient introduire le bidet." I've got nothing to add...

 

Even funnier still, my favorite CT pals are all hoarders... ancient coin hoarders!

 

We will need all the Follis, denari, and solidus we can get our hands on when the apocalypse comes.