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Panic buying beginning again


MickinMD

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It was raining like hell all day in Central Maryland so, at 1:30 pm, even with the outside temperature around 70° I thought I'd find empty stores when I went shopping.

Instead, the roads, parking lots, and stores were extremely crowded.  The checkout line at Costco extended about 100 feet down the main aisle.

I expected to be finished shopping in 2 hours.  It took 4.

There were some items I knew I'd need in the next month and saw only one of two on a shelf or found it in only one of the 5 stores I visited. Things like aluminum foil, store-brand or Campbell's condensed vegetable soup, Bisquick, Caffeine Free Diet Coke, chicken thighs in non-humongous packages. So I grabbed a lot.

Covid rates in Maryland are half that of the USA avg., but they're still soaring.

The Governor has ordered bars and restaurants to drop from a max. 75% capacity to 50%.

A guy I spoke to in one of the extremely long shopping lines today said his wife works for the State and she says Governor Hogan has been holding meetings to organize the next set of lockdowns.

I'm sure this is or will happen all over.  So get ready for one-way aisles in supermarkets, enter one side, exit the other, etc.

 

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5 hours ago, MickinMD said:

It was raining like hell all day in Central Maryland so, at 1:30 pm, even with the outside temperature around 70° I thought I'd find empty stores when I went shopping.

Instead, the roads, parking lots, and stores were extremely crowded.  The checkout line at Costco extended about 100 feet down the main aisle.

I expected to be finished shopping in 2 hours.  It took 4.

There were some items I knew I'd need in the next month and saw only one of two on a shelf or found it in only one of the 5 stores I visited. Things like aluminum foil, store-brand or Campbell's condensed vegetable soup, Bisquick, Caffeine Free Diet Coke, chicken thighs in non-humongous packages. So I grabbed a lot.

Covid rates in Maryland are half that of the USA avg., but they're still soaring.

The Governor has ordered bars and restaurants to drop from a max. 75% capacity to 50%.

A guy I spoke to in one of the extremely long shopping lines today said his wife works for the State and she says Governor Hogan has been holding meetings to organize the next set of lockdowns.

I'm sure this is or will happen all over.  So get ready for one-way aisles in supermarkets, enter one side, exit the other, etc.

 

We never left that.

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2 hours ago, Dottles said:

I'm afraid this whole cycle is going to be with us a couple years.  I get that folks are pinning their hopes on a vaccine -- but you folks can be my guest and line up first and let me see if you turn into jello.  I'll be sitting this one out a year at least even if they get one.

Yes, there will be priority groups determined.  The press has reported in Canada the serious challenge in terms of logistics to get the vaccine distributed. Apparently a possible known vaccine at this time, may need very cold temp. to store/ship.  Which even the ordinary pharmacy and doctor's office wouldn't have such equipment.

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Yesterday, I was calmly shopping in a fairly quiet, peaceful national grocery store chain downtown.  There weren't that many people ..it was around 11:30 am. Yea, it might get busier around 3:00 pm onward.  But nothing insane.

For the city where I live, most of the pandemonium and chaotic lineups have been in some surburban stores Mar.- May this year.  I live in a city of 1.3 million.

What I do wonder is steep prices for TP, etc. during this time again.

Our covid infection numbers have gone up significantly in a number of provinces, including Alberta.

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16 minutes ago, bikeman564™ said:

Our idiot (governor) put lots of things in place to help knock down the china virus...didn't work though, Michigan's numbers are up.

Would have worked if the people had followed the idiots ideas.  The current outbreaks are centered around college campus parties (maskless of course) and people gathering indoors instead of maintaining distance.  It's just a rebound of "I'm tired of the virus and screw that".

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8 hours ago, MickinMD said:

There were some items I knew I'd need in the next month and saw only one of two on a shelf or found it in only one of the 5 stores I visited. Things like aluminum foil, store-brand or Campbell's condensed vegetable soup, Bisquick, Caffeine Free Diet Coke, chicken thighs in non-humongous packages. So I grabbed a lot.

I know that they are not making Caffeine Free Coke as that's what my mother likes and it's not available. Something about the lack of aluminum cans plus it's harder to make Coke without caffeine. They hope to bring it back in 2021. Maybe the Diet version is next.

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I think we see someone like Gov DeWine doing the balancing act between closure of businesses and keeping things semi-open.  It  doesn't help there is now no more extra help for businesses to support them if they are asked close, limit hours, or limit occupancy.  Likewise for employees :(

These rules are insanely EASY to follow:

1. Each retail business will be required to post a face covering requirement sign at all public entrances to the store;

2. Each store will be responsible for ensuring that customers and employees are wearing masks; and

3. A new Retail Compliance Unit, composed of agents led by the Bureau of Workers' Compensation, will inspect businesses to ensure compliance. A first violation of this order will bring about a written warning and a second violation will bring about closure of the store for up to 24 hours.

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2 hours ago, bikeman564™ said:

Our idiot (governor) put lots of things in place to help knock down the china virus...didn't work though, Michigan's numbers are up.

It was working for a until one of the political parties sued.  When is the idiot legislature going to do something?  People are dying and they're sitting around with their thumbs up their asses.

 

Feel free to lock the thread.

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10 hours ago, MickinMD said:

 

I'm sure this is or will happen all over.  So get ready for one-way aisles in supermarkets, enter one side, exit the other, etc.

 

Is this really an inconvenience?

The store where I shop has been doing this for months. One way isles and masks required. It's really not a big deal.

No Coke, Pepsi!

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13 minutes ago, dennis said:

Is this really an inconvenience?

The store where I shop has been doing this for months. One way isles and masks required. It's really not a big deal.

No Coke, Pepsi!

You may not find it a big deal to do all the extra walking due to one-way aisles, but many of us become fatigued, our problem hips begin to ache, or we have sore leg muscles the next couple of days because you have to walk all the way down one aisle to get to the one you want and end up spending hours walking extra distances.

And I haven't seen my preference, Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi, on sale since March.

The really big deal is items you use often but can't find.  It will lead you to shop in several stores looking for them instead of shopping in ONE store and limiting you chances of exposure when the case numbers get really high.  I want to stay just enough ahead enough that if I can't find salt, pepper, Bisquick, etc. I can wait to buy it another time.

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13 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

MickMD, you spent 4 hours hunting down stuff you might need in the next month.  Is this not part of the problem?

I guess I didn't make myself clear. Sorry. Right now, the COVID case numbers haven't become huge in my county. Shopping in stores is not much of a risk.

In another couple of weeks or months, shopping may become a much larger risk so I'd rather do the shopping now.

Additionally, finding things like salt, pepper, canned and frozen veggies is much less a problem now so the time spent gathering them together now greatly reduces the time required to find them in the future when exposure to COVID-19 is much more likely.

Finally, if I can stay just far enough ahead, when I can't find the food items I need in one store, I won't need to look for them in other stores - I'll be able to wait for another shopping day, thereby reducing my chances of exposure.

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15 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

You may not find it a big deal to do all the extra walking due to one-way aisles, but many of us become fatigued, our problem hips begin to ache, or we have sore leg muscles the next couple of days because you have to walk all the way down one aisle to get to the one you want and end up spending hours walking extra distances.

And I haven't seen my preference, Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi, on sale since March.

The really big deal is items you use often but can't find.  It will lead you to shop in several stores looking for them instead of shopping in ONE store and limiting you chances of exposure when the case numbers get really high.  I want to stay just enough ahead enough that if I can't find salt, pepper, Bisquick, etc. I can wait to buy it another time.

Mick, you took 4 hours going to 5 stores. I rarely shop for more than 30 minutes at one store using one way isles. I think you are doing it wrong. That sounds exhausting. 

If you are concerned about exposure, there are options. Online or curbside. One store, not five. In and out, not four hours of shopping. 

Does life depend on Pepsi and Bisquick? I bet it's been a decade or longer since I've had either. 

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25 minutes ago, MickinMD said:

You may not find it a big deal to do all the extra walking due to one-way aisles, but many of us become fatigued, our problem hips begin to ache, or we have sore leg muscles the next couple of days because you have to walk all the way down one aisle to get to the one you want and end up spending hours walking extra distances.

And I haven't seen my preference, Caffeine Free Diet Pepsi, on sale since March.

The really big deal is items you use often but can't find.  It will lead you to shop in several stores looking for them instead of shopping in ONE store and limiting you chances of exposure when the case numbers get really high.  I want to stay just enough ahead enough that if I can't find salt, pepper, Bisquick, etc. I can wait to buy it another time.

I make a list and then do the store up one, down one, up one, down one and when I encounter something on my list I get it.  I'm not doing a huge amount of extra walking.  Besides, I'm not going much of anywhere else so my walking is falling behind.

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1 hour ago, MickinMD said:

I guess I didn't make myself clear. Sorry. Right now, the COVID case numbers haven't become huge in my county. Shopping in stores is not much of a risk.

In another couple of weeks or months, shopping may become a much larger risk so I'd rather do the shopping now.

Additionally, finding things like salt, pepper, canned and frozen veggies is much less a problem now so the time spent gathering them together now greatly reduces the time required to find them in the future when exposure to COVID-19 is much more likely.

Finally, if I can stay just far enough ahead, when I can't find the food items I need in one store, I won't need to look for them in other stores - I'll be able to wait for another shopping day, thereby reducing my chances of exposure.

Or said another - If I buy now what I don't need until later I will have it (but other people won't).  Mick, that is hoarding.

There is only 2 sides.  There is no middle.  You are either part of the problem or part of the solution.

 

 

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4 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Would have worked if the people had followed the idiots ideas.  The current outbreaks are centered around college campus parties (maskless of course) and people gathering indoors instead of maintaining distance.  It's just a rebound of "I'm tired of the virus and screw that".

Yes, like often happens, people that test positive after wearing a mask are down on masks, but often do not wash their hands and do not practice safe distancing. Was visiting with a fellow at the pharmacy the other day, about this happening to some of his fiends. This leave it up to the people works fine, when their minds are 'in gear'. Tough to please everyone all of the time. So far none of our sheep have tested positive.

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I last went to the grocery store last week, and my local stores were well stocked with name brands.  Maybe they didn't have every name brand, but they had some of all the usual "low stock" items such as TP, paper towels, and cleansers.  As items became more available during the summer after NY's very bad early spring, I made sure to stay well stocked on the items I found I used most while I was "sheltering at home" in the spring.  

 

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1 hour ago, Kzoo said:

Or said another - If I buy now what I don't need until later I will have it (but other people won't).  Mick, that is hoarding.

There is only 2 sides.  There is no middle.  You are either part of the problem or part of the solution.

 

 

There ARE only two sides.  
image.png.b3b4da55166414e5e75ee12e3ebab307.png
 

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1 minute ago, Dirtyhip said:

Damn her for trying to save lives. How ridiculous she is for trying to keep citizens safe.

Oh the politics involved in trying to save lives and still putting yourself first.  A lesson in how to, or how not to, work with the other parts of the government.  Or the long term view of not being able to fly when your wings have been clipped.  Followed by - a bird that can't fly is useless.

 

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18 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

Oh the politics involved in trying to save lives and still putting yourself first.  A lesson in how to, or how not to, work with the other parts of the government.  Or the long term view of not being able to fly when your wings have been clipped.  Followed by - a bird that can't fly is useless.

 

 

hoo.png

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6 minutes ago, Kzoo said:

Oh the politics involved in trying to save lives and still putting yourself first.  A lesson in how to, or how not to, work with the other parts of the government.  Or the long term view of not being able to fly when your wings have been clipped.  Followed by - a bird that can't fly is useless.

 

We don't really follow a lot of other state politics around here.  What little I see about Michigan's response comes from here.  Likewise, I can't see - through a quick google search - anything the "other parts of the government" have done to address COVID until a recent spate of action in October.  What are we missing about the March to October time frame?  Were there a bunch of pieces of practical legislation put forth and vetoed by the governor?

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1 minute ago, Razors Edge said:

We don't really follow a lot of other state politics around here.  What little I see about Michigan's response comes from here.  Likewise, I can't see - through a quick google search - anything the "other parts of the government" have done to address COVID until a recent spate of action in October.  What are we missing about the March to October time frame?  Were there a bunch of pieces of practical legislation put forth and vetoed by the governor?

Nothing...

 

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Hoarding is starting again here too.  We went yellow a few days ago and everyone went shopping.  No paper towels or TP again.  Seems a little crazy.  Our positive rate rolling average is over 5% again.  200 new cases today-- most in people 19 and under.  Next most frequent group is 20 to 24-- lots of college kids

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