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Post by miles on Mar 24, 2020 21:19:15 GMT
As Ned said, there is no actual shortage of TP, just a distribution problem because of hoarding and panic buying.
What I do expect to disappear are imported and specialty food items, after the local distribution chains run out. I hope someone makes gin in the US.
Suzi, I hope your family stays healthy and not overly stressed.
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Post by donavan on Mar 24, 2020 21:43:05 GMT
Special shopping times here too for the elderly, high risk people and disabled. Thing is not all high risk and/or disabilities are visible. So some people are getting unfairly refused entry. And the people refusing entry are through no fault of their own unqualified to make the right call. Plus you get scammers trying to play the system. Nightmare.
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Post by Mare on Mar 25, 2020 0:04:28 GMT
Those smart-ass bastard economists say the toilet paper shortage is just a problem of supply. Stores keep a limited supply, in a panic shoppers overbuy but the usage doesn't change, so eventually those who overbought will still have their supply and the new supply will be sufficient. This is different than hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies because those are also at a heightened usage. in the meantime, our COUNTY has issued a stay-at-home order because our Trump-stooge governor refuses to do much. Granted, Florida only has the third largest population in the U.S. with the largest percentage of elderly - so it's not as if we have anything to WORRY about. My office is a state government office (slagging off on the boss!) so is deemed essential and staying open- but not to the public, but I think I'll move toward working from home part-time soon. I have no symptoms but this whole thing is stressful, I need to get home and relax. Hey Spastic Fishie, I hope you remain asymptomatic and are able to stay away from the aging Boomers in your area. I think there are hand sanitizer hoarders. They have been cornering the Amazon and ebay markets with exorbitant prices for which they will gladly resell to you the merchandise for which they recently paid regular price. My boss had me searching online for hand sanitizer about three weeks ago. All I could find was 8 oz. bottles of Purell that were two for $40. USD. The same exact product was "out of stock" from Amazon fulfilled orders for $9.99 for two 8 oz. bottles. These are Trumpian Robber Barons. Rat bastards, I mean. I am proud of our Trump despised Gov for shutting us down in time to prevent the Spring Break idiocy that the students visiting Florida were so blithely not bothered about. Yes, Free Spirited (read Loaded) Spring Breakers-beach frolicing with a whole bunch of your peers can expose you to nasty germs. Make sure you are drinking from your own bottles/cans! Last weekend, weather was sunny and warm, so what did a lot of folks in So Cal do? They massed the hiking trails and beaches and piers getting fresh air, sunshine and probably germs. Now, Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti has ordered all the beachfront parking lots closed. Trailheads in my county and nearby Riverside County are closed. (How do you close a trailhead? Isn't that just a chain between two yard/meter high poles that you can walk around or step over? My fingers are crossed for more rain.)
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Post by Mare on Mar 25, 2020 0:08:15 GMT
And Mare, our recently returned voice of calm, reason, empathy and wisdom. Oh, I dunno about reason, calm and wisdom, Terra...I am kicking butt at binge eating Peanut Buttercups which I don't even like. I think there is more than a tinge of anxiety, there.
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Post by Mare on Mar 25, 2020 0:26:22 GMT
Thanks Mare. Bravery? Naahh. I've seen nothing like the situation you've described. Most people coming into the store are maintaining a sense of humour, shopping fairly sensibly and carrying on much as normal. None of them admit to stockpiling, though they do come in early (we open at 6) and all the toilet rolls and bread are gone by about 9am..... Hey ho, it'll all be over by Christmas! Fingers crossed that you are right about it being over by Christmas, bimble! My attempts at humor are hit and miss-there are a lot of blank stares and people standing mindlessly in line. I was one of the Early Elders at Costco, this morning. It is a Big Box store where I semi-regularly buy massive quantities of paper towels and Kleenex, along with vitamins and such. I thanked the staff trying to herd customers through the one way foot traffic in the store that went straight past the TP, paper towels and cases of bottled water (both sides to move the crazy people through as quickly as possible.) I thanked the personnel out in the parking lot for being there. There are people who have no concept of what six feet apart means, one lady was bunching up on my right flank with her cart. I like a nice orderly line, you know? For the most part, the line was staying in the order in which it formed and some folks were laughing and having a good time making new acquaintances. Best of luck that your customers keep their humor and remain uninfected with surliness. Take care! Virtual hugs to you!
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Post by Mare on Mar 25, 2020 0:36:29 GMT
The Hoarding and Panic Buying Mr. Suzi saw this first hand. It was crazy. He was tasked one of the first nights last week with manning the toilet paper. Again, I never in my life thought I'd see loo roll be the most wanted item on the planet but here we are. He stood there as it was put out, handed people their limit of 2 packages and prayed that people stayed sane an orderly .... or no one punched him. He came back home with all his teeth intact minus some sanity. Friday, he had to stand at the checkouts policing how much people were buying and confiscate what you had if you were over the limit. One guy got ugly wth him but just verbally. As he told me when he came home .... 'there are signs all over, fuckwad .... don't tell me you didn't know we had limits on items.' š¤¦š»āāļøš¤¦š»āāļø Yesterday was the first day the store opened with amended hours .... 7 to 8am is for seniors and those with disabilities to shop first for their safety as the store will be completely clean and sanitary. Mr. Suzi had to let them in, have staff help them shop if needed and shoo those away trying to get in that weren't seniors. I don't even work there and I've taken to drinking regularly in the evening. If this keeps up, I'll need some rehab. Thanks for listening. I am very sorry Mr. Suzi and Patrick are going through customer wads of knucklehaids. I hope the store provides masks and gloves for them both! Mr. Suzi is trying to keep order when people are greedy! Verbal abuse should get customers banned. Yes, each and every store I have been to has limit lists taped on the front doors with requests you only purchase one of each limited thing and no more than two of everthing else, so all can have what they need. I wonder if the angry, abusively hostile shoppers are the same people who cut you off when two lanes are merging and everybody else is alternating. I try to avoid giving hard looks and do a little stretching, instead. Nice to see you, Suzi! I have missed you! Be safe & well!
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Post by Suzi on Mar 25, 2020 1:29:26 GMT
Special shopping times here too for the elderly, high risk people and disabled. Thing is not all high risk and/or disabilities are visible. So some people are getting unfairly refused entry. And the people refusing entry are through no fault of their own unqualified to make the right call. Plus you get scammers trying to play the system. Nightmare. I agree with you here. But, there was little issue. The joe regular shoppers in my town are too lazy to get up at 7am to shop anyway !! Mr. Suze said he was pretty sure the very few he turned away weren't in the disability category. They let in younger people that were assisting elderly which was good and that generation of folks absolutely appreciated it. But the toilet paper hoarding .... I just can't. They received 6 large pallets of the stuff yesterday afternoon and Mr. Suzi said it was gone by the time he left shortly after 4pm. It's getting back to normal and they have no one handing it out now. It's still going to be a while though.
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Post by miles on Mar 25, 2020 17:33:59 GMT
This is part of an article by Kos of Daily Kos. It is his predictions of the longer term effect of the pandemic in the US. I especially hope this part occurs: 4.) We are in this together, as a society. Supply hoarding and profiteering and selfish jackasses hanging out in crowds in restaurants or beaches show us the worst parts of individualistic thinkingāthey want their āfreedomā and fuck everyone else, including grandma. But the rest of us look on in horror and disgust because this is one crisis that canāt be solved by rugged individualism. It requires collective action. Thatās why itās been so hard for Republicans to adapt. Their usual solutionsādemagoguery, militarism, and macho posturing arenāt working. Trump can be a racist with his āChina virusā shit all day long, and the virus will continue to ravage through the population unchecked. A newfound respect for acting as collective society, as much as it chafes conservatives, will have a huge impact on public policy for a generation or two. www.dailykos.com/stories/2020/3/25/1930907/-11-ways-the-United-States-will-change-because-of-the-coronavirus
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Nonsuch Ned
Administrator
Phil?... Phil Connors?
minimum bling
Posts: 1,121
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Post by Nonsuch Ned on Mar 25, 2020 21:01:16 GMT
I think there are hand sanitizer hoarders. They have been cornering the Amazon and ebay markets with exorbitant prices for which they will gladly resell to you the merchandise for which they recently paid regular price. My boss had me searching online for hand sanitizer about three weeks ago. All I could find was 8 oz. bottles of Purell that were two for $40. USD. The same exact product was "out of stock" from Amazon fulfilled orders for $9.99 for two 8 oz. bottles. These are Trumpian Robber Barons. Rat bastards, I mean. Amazon rather quickly killed that practice. You must have been looking at the wrong time. They suspended or deleted the accounts of the price gougers. Third party sellers can still sell sanitizer but are not allowed to price-gouge. eBay straight up banned the sale of sanitizer and related products. There's a prominent story about it that I think was in the New Yorker. Some dumb-ass in Tennessee gladly shared his story of how he and his brother drove all over the south buying up sanitizer and other products, sold their product for a couple days at those ridiculous prices and in the article made himself out to be the victim because Amazon deleted his account and now he was "stuck" with a couple garages full he couldn't sell. Once the article went out it seems the Tennessee Attorney General didn't consider him such a victim and opened charges against the two of them. They have since donated their entire supply to a charity to distribute. I haven't looked it up again since to see if it made the case go away. I'm a part-time eBay reseller- buy thrift store stuff and resell at prices that occasionally turn a fantastic profit. But those bastards are scum.
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Post by donavan on Mar 25, 2020 22:59:51 GMT
First take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
A lesson to us all at this time of great concern.
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Post by Introvertigroo on Mar 25, 2020 23:51:02 GMT
I suppose there is one benefit of Covid19--outside of the first two weeks or so, the Back Porch has never been busier. I imagine Ned is raking in some serious money as a result.
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Post by miles on Mar 26, 2020 18:32:30 GMT
I suppose there is one benefit of Covid19--outside of the first two weeks or so, the Back Porch has never been busier. I imagine Ned is raking in some serious money as a result. I'm collecting my share in psychic dollars.
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Post by Suzi on Mar 26, 2020 21:24:24 GMT
Retail isn't accepting your overbought items back. Some idiot and his wife came in to my husband's Walmart and cleaned them out of baby formula. This was before they had to implement limiting on items. They figured he was going to try to sell it on eBay. Thus, retail as a whole had to implement this policy. So, if you have too many of some hoarded item for whatever your reason for buying, may I suggest to unburden yourself of some guilt and donate it to your local food bank or soup kitchen.
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Post by donavan on Mar 26, 2020 22:58:33 GMT
But give a couple to me first. Toilet rolls preferably. You know I couldn't hoard if I wanted to. Too many people in the house with all their own everyday stuff, I'd have nowhere to put it.
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Post by donavan on Mar 27, 2020 12:20:56 GMT
BoJo has tested positive.
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