Nov 17 2008
What are you preparing for?
I was in WalMart earlier today and after checking out I had some time to kill to I just sat on a bench near the checkout lanes and watched.
I watched what people were buying and I noticed something interesting. There were a number of people who seemed to be stocking up. I saw one guy buying about 10 boxes of cereal, six large jugs of bleach, a few bags of apples and some other assorted things. There was another couple who were buying several rolls of paper towels, bleach and lots of Depends (maybe they run a nursing home?) while another woman bought three huge boxes of diapers. I saw more people with multiple packages of toilet paper and paper towels, and jugs of drinking water. In the past week I have also seen people stocking up on canned goods and other staple food items.
What’s going on? This is a common thing to see in my area when there’s a threat of snow - people lose their minds and clear the grocery stores of bread, milk and toilet paper in case they get snowed in. But what’s up with so many people stocking up?
I make it a habit to buy a cheap package of toilet paper, maybe a jug of drinking water and a couple of canned goods everytime I’m in the grocery store and have a few extra bucks so stocking up won’t hurt the pocketbook so much.
Has the economy gotten people in a near-panic or are people sensing the worst is yet to come? Maybe we should pay attention to the critters - mine have all been fattening up, snarfing as much food as they can lay their paws and claws on and sporting a fluffy, thick winter coat. Animals certainly sense more than we do, so what’s going on?
What have you noticed in your community? I’d love to know.
