Don't worry about panic buying

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 freeflyer 20 Mar 2020

Strangely I've had few problems with the effects of panic buying and have nearly always ended up with what I need or something close, so I thought I'd start a positive thread about what can be done to avoid the worst effects.

The DIY bidet: I've got a kitchen bowl in the shower, do my business on the loo as normal, wash and soap in the shower, pour bowl contents down loo, rinse and flush. A bit of a faff but simple and probably more hygienic; I may not bother with toilet roll any more.

Carbs: there are loads of things with high carbs that aren't pasta, breakfast cereal, potato and bread. Broccoli, sweetcorn, beetroot, bananas, apples, and that's before you start getting into PB territory with things like quinoa.

Protein: seems PBs don't eat fish. I mostly eat fish anyway and the occasional steak etc, no problems there so far.

Take-away: I'm on the annual spring diet so haven't made it to the local Chinese yet, but I bet they're very keen to get some customers.

Any more quick wins? The above probably costs more than average, so it would be great to find some cheaper options.

 Tom Valentine 20 Mar 2020
In reply to freeflyer:

Apparently the scene varies massively shop to shop, store to store. I haven't noticed too much wrong in Aldi and Lidl this week apart from tinned food and flour but have been warned to expect something different on my main trip to Tesco later this morning.

 chadogrady 20 Mar 2020
In reply to freeflyer:

I have 3 supermarkets pretty much on my doorstep. They have been wiped out and there are queues constantly. It seems people aren't bulk buying in one go, but I have seen the same people going in and coming out of the shops every morning (while walking the dog) with 2-4 full bags of shopping. They must have amazing stock piles by now, I'll just have to follow them home when I can't buy anything on my Monday morning shop next week. 

I joke of course, but I do get the feeling that some people might start resorting to desperate measures if the supply lines get disrupted even more so. 

In reply to freeflyer:

Well there's fu@k all in many of the shops near me and I've not managed to get anything worth having for the past 5 days.

So I'm breaking open my emergency camping supplies consisting of the finest Maggie noodles, and Wikinger chicken lip sausages.

Bon appetit

 Richard Horn 20 Mar 2020
In reply to chadogrady:

People keep calling for tighter lockdowns, but based on my experience yesterday and what I see on the news I think supermarkets are probably the number one hotspot for the virus spreading right now..

 Kemics 20 Mar 2020
In reply to freeflyer:

I was chatting tonight to the manager of a massive 24hr asda and he was very cheerful. Said they have no supply chain issues and he said he thought it will calm down when people realise there shelves keep getting refilled. 

 girlymonkey 20 Mar 2020
In reply to chadogrady:

If people are genuinely going in and out multiple times then the risk of the virus spreading gets increased more and more! Genius! Well done people! 😡

 Blue Straggler 20 Mar 2020
In reply to Tom Valentine:

Also (general comment here, not directed at anyone in particular) beyond the supermarkets things seem quite sane, normal and easy. For seven days now it’s been hard to get hold of grains like cous cous and bulgur wheat, and dried pulses like chick peas and various types of bean, in a lot of supermarkets. So today I went to “elf foods” and was able to get everything I wanted quite easily. 

In reply to Tom Valentine:

> Apparently the scene varies massively shop to shop, store to store.

That's my experience. The local Tesco looks like a "meanwhile in communist Russia" skit; the M&S foodhall is crowded but well stocked (if a bit short of milk); Booths is short on some lines but generally okay; Betty's, where I buy my sliced sourdough loaves is an oasis of calm (they have closed the tea shop/ cafe but the bakery cake shop is trading). Basically then more "mainstream" a shop was,  the more it had been stripped clean. 

 Fruitbat 20 Mar 2020
In reply to Blue Straggler:

Even our local health-food shop has been targetted by PBs, unfortunately. I called in yesterday to get some bread flour (I was actually running low, not stockpiling) and I was lucky to get one of the last 2 or 3 bags left. The woman who was serving said a lot of of flour and things had been bought by 'new faces' and it is pretty much a shop that mainly locals use (not in Royston Vasey, though). They only restock every month so won't get any more for 3 weeks but hopefully the current situation will have calmed down by then - surely these idiots must realise that they aren't using anything at a faster rate and they must have seen the messages that there is plenty for everyone so no need to PB?

Post edited at 21:29
 McHeath 20 Mar 2020
In reply to freeflyer:

No problems getting the stuff I want at my local Aldi if I get there early, but the guidelines for the cashiers (who really are working at a high risk for themselves) seem to be lax. 1. Personal risk for the cashiers themselves: only 1 of the 4 cashiers was wearing gloves. 2.Risk for customers: Mine was the only one wearing gloves, but he unnecessarily took my card out of the slot and handed it back to me; those gloves have touched every item bought by everyone else, and every unnecessary contact should be avoided. 

OP freeflyer 20 Mar 2020
In reply to chadogrady:

I think there's a lot of irrational 'anxiety buying' going on. People say to themselves, well there might be a bit of a shortage, I better get stuff in before I starve to death, and rationalise their anxieties into inappropriate behaviour. Clearly some folk are a lot worse affected than others, depending on their mental state: feelings of responsibility to family, paranoia, anger, outright fear, and so on.

While I'm sympathetic, I don't think these people are going to respond to 'gentle advice and reassurance from the government' - more is needed. Jonathan Ashworth (Shadow Health Sec) was on telly yesterday saying that the people need clear direction and leadership, and for once he wasn't trying to score a political point.

Discipline, that's what they need

In reply to Blue Straggler:

> Also (general comment here, not directed at anyone in particular) beyond the supermarkets things seem quite sane, normal and easy. For seven days now it’s been hard to get hold of grains like cous cous and bulgur wheat, and dried pulses like chick peas and various types of bean, in a lot of supermarkets. So today I went to “elf foods” and was able to get everything I wanted quite easily. 

Are you father Christmas then? 

Is that what your assistants eat ?


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