Schoolhouse, can you get it from Amazon or Chewy?

Yesterday I went to Walmart for a few things I needed, not to stock up on anything. The TP aisle was completely empty. Then I want to Publix, a higher-end grocery to get a couple of things and they still had some but they were rationing it. I think that's what they all should do. I had stocked up about a month ago for our and my son's family households with what I would call "dire straits" stuff. I'm talking down to the bottom of the barrel food when there is nothing else. Rice, beans, flour, sugar, powdered milk, tortilla masa mix. When I called my Grandson (teenager) to come after school and pick their stuff up he was looking at me like I was nuts. But he's a kid and knows nothing about panic, want, hunger and such awful things. I explained to him about how people will wipe out the shelves in a panic in one day and he was just clueless and shook his head. I am not afraid of getting the virus (except for being quarantined), what scares me more is how people react when they are in fear. My son seems to be grateful for it but I think my DIL thinks I'm nuts, too. I'm hoping that I'm proved wrong in the end. All I know is hunger is an awful thing, I suffered it too many times growing up due to alcoholic parents and I don't want me or or my family ever to have to suffer it as long as I can prevent it. All the things I bought can be stored in the freezer or pantry for a very long time and can be used over time if this doesn't get that bad.

Thanks Chi, I called WalMart and asked them to check if it was on the shelf, she said "we have lots of it". So I'm going in.

P.S. throat is ok now, must have been dust mites (eww), I'm allergic to dust, pollen, most scented stuff so have chronic sinus drip.

Well if TP is NEVER IN THE STORE AGAIN, we'll all look foolish, won't we! <-joking.

What an odd dynamic is occurring in the US right now. Future historians and all sorts of grad students will be writing volumes....!

I will need to go shopping later this week. While I do tend to have a "back up supply" of food and basic supplies on hand, it has a limit :-) And I live in too small a place to stockpile anything. I need pet food and fresh stuff....perishables that don't last that long. So far the local grocery stores don't seem to be short of anything other than paper goods and cleaning supplies but I wonder how much that might change by midweek.

I grew up in a moderately affluent family and in a moderately affluent part of the country and we never went without anything. We also had a lot of fruit and my dad had a big veggie garden, so canned or frozen produce (we rented a cold locker) was always available. We also do not have weather events or storms severe enough to prohibit access to fresh groceries for more than a couple of days, if that. Shortages, such as have been described here, are just unprecedented!!

It's a bit of a closing the barn door situation now, but maybe rationing these items - TP, paper towels, cleaning stuff, whatever else is in high demand locally - is a reasonable approach to make sure that those that need it get their share and it isn't all hogged by those greedy individuals who are only thinking of themselves.

I can't think of anything associated with this pandemic that requires anyone to have a 6 month supply of TP at their disposal!! That is a reactionary, Zombie Apocalypse - Armageddon attitude that has no place here.

Give it a week, things will probably calm down. I did my own kind of stocking up. I bought 10 lb. of flour so if need be, I can make my own bread. :-)))

I can't think of anything associated with this pandemic that requires anyone to have a 6 month supply of TP at their disposal!!

I can. It's been around for centuries. Selfish.

Is a large portion of paper products imported from other countries, i.e. China? Do people think that imported TP and other paper products won't be available if trade is affected? I bought family-size packs of TP and paper towels a couple of days ago (one each, although there was no rationing and plenty on the shelf). They are off-brand--one says made in USA, the other says assembled in USA, so maybe some part (cardboard roll?) is imported.

Is anyone 'wiping down' what they bring home from the grocery -- or library? Covid-19 can live for three days on plastic and stainless steel. I think it's one day on cardboard.

It's crazy. I posted it before, but the mass panic mentality scares me 1000x more than the virus--- and we are among those just hanging out at home as much as possible.

I usually shop early morning, mid week. Went at my usual time. Was surprised at how many people were already there snapping things up- weird things too. One guy was frantically loading buckets of laundry detergent into his cart- how was that going to save him? Guess that is that sense of control...

I was able to get 95% of the things on my list, but was already well enough stocked on cleaning supplies, paper goods and other high demand items. DD's ramen was the only thing I couldn't get, but she will live without it. My theory on the ramen is that it's the go to for people who can't/don't cook and aren't going into restaurants right now.

Heard on a local community app that by last night a lot of the stores were stripped out of basic necessities- namely things like milk, bread, eggs, peanut butter. I hope that people come to their senses soon and we are all able to get reasonable amounts of the basic supplies that we could use. Glad I don't have a toddler who needs a lot of milk. Wondered if some of the grocery store strip down here as of yesterday is because they officially closed our schools yesterday afternoon and maybe people just want to stock up and not go out much now that the kids are off for 3 weeks? Ugh, not looking forward to going out later in the week when I might need things like milk...

The manager at my usual store said they are already anticipating a massive downturn in sales in a couple of weeks when everybody has a glut of food and supplies at their homes and aren't coming in to buy much of anything.

My cleaning ladies are having a hard time getting their cleaning supplies and that's essential for them.

I'm pretty well stocked- I usually have a month or so because I tend to stock up on sales and such anyway. I also usually go early on a weekday morning at a larger chain store next town over for larger shopping trips.

But ran out of eggs last night, and went to our little local grocery chain this morning for more. Figured they would have brisket on sale too, and they did :)

I was a bit surprised at how cleared out the store was for the rural area this is. Maybe the bigger stores are running out on some stuff, and folks are going more local? TP mostly out, stacks of it and bottled water in carts. People just carrying 4-6 packs of meat up to the register- they were out of their big packs of chicken breasts, boneless breasts, hamburger, and a few other meat slots were bare. Lots of canned tuna, chili, and sloppy joe gone, canned soup and spaghetti-o's were low or the bottom shelf out. Thin or blank spots in the pasta, rice, dried beans, and some canned veggies. Frozen potatoes was low.

A couple stockers talking about the cheese. One asked what to do about spots they didn't have more product for- the answer was just keep filling holes with what they got left.

Frozen meats and veggies and fresh produce were still well stocked, so was the baby stuff and breakfast stuff aisles.

When I got to the register I asked the cashier how crazy the store was today compared to usual Saturdays. She told me the real crazy was yesterday, and they were lucky they got in a stock truck this morning.

I was glad I just had wanted to go to our small local store for a couple things. I can't imagine how crazy the big stores in the next town over might be. I'm in a state that has declared a 3 week shut down of schools this week, so I bet a lot of parents were buying extra because the kids will be home.

DH went today to mainly get coffee, he said there was no TP. He also said that there were cases and cases of white distilled vinegar everywhere. Does that mean people want it to clean with since there is nothing else left? That's the only thing I can think of.

Trader Joe's yesterday. No meat, bread or frozen food. Canned goods, pasta, rice completely empty.

We did have almost everything we need for a month's worth of sequestering. Except cat litter. We figured if we were going, we would get stuff for my birthday dinner we never got to have so we could avoid going out to a restaurant. I woke the boy up early, and the store was still full (it never is filled early). So many people. Stripped shelves. No cat food, or pasta. Bread was dwindling. Toilet paper almost gone. So freaking loud! So many people on the edge of panic. Oy. We got ribeyes, lobster tails, and cat litter, then out quickly. Away from the madness. Cleaned the cart before we used it. Cleaned it when were done. Got home and washed all our clothes in super hot water, and Lysoled the phones. Ready to stay in. And if we go out, we now have the gazebo set up just outside the door facing the garden. Unless COVID-19 floats through the air, we should be ok. Hopefully, neither of us got it before we hunkered down. Hopefully, we didn't so we couldn't give it to anyone today.

My SO noticed this too! Store shelves are wiped clean, yet restaurants are packed and fast food drive-thru lines are so long they go basically go around the block! It baffles me.

The stocking up on items during an outbreak or economic downturn is called ‘panic buying’. For some, it’s a way to deal with the stress. It makes them feel they have some semblance of control when it’s unknown what the outcome is going to be. They’re getting conflicting info from politicians and medical professionals and it’s causing confusion. Like a fear of the unknown. For others, they see everyone else doing it or notice empty shelves of a certain item so they rationalize that there must be a reason for it and it’s what they, too, should be doing. Similarly, others will notice empty shelves and stock up because they’re worried there won’t be any when they need it again. Further, some speculate that factories will be shut down so production will stop. Then there are people who think stores will be closed when they need something so they’re loading up while they can.

All semblance of logic goes out the window in times like this. Where I live, apparently people think the interstate will be shut down! They did a press conference on the news and when fielding questions from the news reporters, one mentioned they were getting questions from residents in a neighboring town who work in the hub city about how they should get to work if the interstate closes. WHAT.

It’s madness! Still don’t know why troves of people are packing in like sardines at restaurants though.

Also, there’s been serious price-gouging going on. I read that Amazon removed listings for Clorox wipes after learning that sellers were taking advantage of the crisis and charging obscene amounts.

I came across a single listing for toilet paper yesterday - all other listings had been removed or said ‘unavailable’ on the product page. This listing was for a 12-pack of quilted northern - $799.00. My eyes popped out of my head.

Sounds like a large number of people are doing their stocking-up late in the game. Too bad it hasn't been staggered more, giving the stores a better chance to catch up.

Ramen?? Well, I shouldn't be surprised. We all deserve a treat to go with the necessities, and if ramen noodles were a treat for me I'd buy some too. But mostly I've been emphasizing good nutrition--helps to keep our immune system strong. One exception is a bag of Tom Sturgis Thin Stick pretzels waiting for me to decide it's time to indulge. :-)

Oh, speaking of cat litter, that was the one thing I neglected to buy. I ended up buying some from Walmart.com, but not the kind I usually use. They seemed to have a lot of clumping litter, but I wanted non-clumping. I bought Yesterday's News litter, pellets made from compressed newspaper. We'll see how the cats like it.

We stopped @ our local Sprouts, thinking it's next door to Ace Hardware, where we had to stop anyway.......geeze.....the parking lot was packed @ Sprouts. Sprouts is never packed. We were thinking some chocolate covered almonds sounded good.....maybe in a month we'll check back. :0)

"It's madness!"

That about sums it all up! 😳

I went to the Walmart neighborhood market the other day for my regular shopping. I didnt go to the supercenter because I am always tempted by the garden center and I PROMISED SO to resist until i go on vacation again next month and will have time to fiddle with any plants i buy. Tyrant.

Anyway,no toilet paper. No Clorox or lysol wipes. The cleaning aisle was plundered. I wasn't looking to buy either. The cleaning supplies are in the same aisle as the bird seed in that location. Hand soap was severely diminished. So glad I hoard bath and body works hand soap when it goes on sale. It's one of the few things I buy in large quantities. I love it. My coworkers are happy for my hoarding too. When I went to weigh out at work yesterday,I stopped by my office to say hi. I was asked if I had any. (I always bring bath and body works hand soap up there since I prefer it to the company supplied gunk) Then I was asked if I could send a list of scents that I had on hand so that they could CHOOSE which ones of MY hand soap they want ME to bring up there for THEIR use. No asking,no offer to chip in, no thank you for bringing it for 10 years and allowing them to use it. Nothing. Just a request for the list for them to choose from. Apparently the "gentlemen" are not fans of the strawberry lemonade scent that is currently on the sink up there. And the other ladies want their favorites......

Yeah,bite me.

I sent them all a link to the bath and body works website.

I have to go to publix on my way to work this evening. I hope it's not stupid busy. Publix is,to me, overpriced but is a nice shopping experience. I think the higher prices might keep most of the bulk buyers away.

Annie, I got zinc lozenges from Piping Rock. 2 btls, 60 count each, for $6. I had to sign up for email notification when back in stock. Within 2-3 days, rec'd notification that product was back in stock. Website says that it is out of stock again, though. (I was looking for the Cold-eez & ran into the same thing that you did, pricewise Amazon.)

Not actually food hoarding but the comment above about long lines at the drive through. News this afternoon is that France has ordered restaurants and cafes closed. Spain has started a lockdown and is expected to tell them to close.

There was just an article on my news feed about 2 bothers who drove around buying up all the hand sanitizer they could. They sold 300 bottles on Amazon for $8 - $70. Then Amazon pulled the plug on them and they have nowhere to sell them. Ebay also clamped down on price gouging. The poor babies are sitting on 17,700 bottles that they can't sell. Ha,ha good for yinz.

Dh hasn't been home and wanted milk and his foods and my ds who turned vegetarian came home from college so we ended up in the store. Limits are being enforced and stuff removed from carts if people exceed the quota. You can tell they had restocked, but were wiped out again. I didn't buy any meat, but could tellit had been picked through. Produce was more limited although there was plenty. There was no cauliflower and not a whole lot of potatoes. The Oreo display right inside the store had been taken down. Plenty of regular milk and some eggs, but no soy milk or lentils which is what my child wanted. My child wanted vitamins and there were Flintstones, I couldn't find vitamin C which I expected. There was plenty of ice cream. Frozen food was all picked through. Some lady opened a freezer door in my face as I was looking in the glass for the peas and carrots I wanted. Her significant other called her out on it. I'm hoping it was an oversight on her part rather than intentional rudeness. Most everyone else was polite or friendly although people were quieter than usual.

I forgot to say this. Aside from the people not visiting restaurants because they fear contamination, the restaurants may not be able to operate anyway. Restaurants have not been able to get some of those big bags of flour and rice they usually get because the general public is buying it.

We had to go to 6 different places today to get what we needed...two grocery stores, Target, TJ's, Sprouts and CVS. I was not expecting certain items to be so depleted, such as meat and produce. Not a banana in sight, and potatoes were pretty much all gone. The grocery stores and Target were both cleaned out of Tylenol and ibuprofen. Finally found it at CVS. Somewhat surprised to see disposable diapers still on the shelves.

A woman on the news this morning mentioned being at her grocery store when they restocked the toilet paper aisle She said it was just plain scary to see the stampede.

Our firefighters shop for their shifts at our grocery store. I hope they are able to get what they need!

bpath, I thought about that same thing when I saw two fire trucks leaving our grocery store today. The fire station's very close by, so we see them at the market often. Maybe they have some kind of "in" with the market that ensures they get what they need.

Amy, that is just unbelievable. I mean, I believe you, it's just hard to believe that people think it's ok to behave that way. I dealt with the same thing when I was working only it was the newspaper, candy and popcorn. People can be just awful sometimes.

Dawn, I would only be mildly surprised if one of them sent me a list to order from the website.....that's how entitled these people are. Ugh.

Oh. And publix was also out of TP,hand sanitizer, hand soap,sanitizing wipes, and were almost out of canned soup. Good thing I only went in there for a salad and some Diet Dr. Pepper&Cream soda. It's a new flavor and publix is the only store I know that has it. Delicious.

Went to Walmart, stood with some other people that said they were told the TP would be stocked at 4....there were signs saying 2 packs per person....okay by me....after about 30 minutes an employee came out and asked if we were waiting for TP....he said he didn't know who told us that, their shipment was coming in between 4 and 7 and it was only 3 pallets.

Today they were out of TP, eggs, most soups, veggies, frozen veggies, pizza, hot dogs, special milks, bread......everyone was kind of shocked. The checkout girl said they have had to use store security on occasion with angry customers.

Everything was in stock when I went to the stores a couple of weeks ago. I bought some travel size hand sanitizer & one container of antibacterial wipes on that trip.

DH made a grocery run to Aldi around noon on Wed & got everything that was on the list--cheese, tuna, ramen among the hot items--all the fresh produce on the list. He said there were fewer people than normal at Aldi. Plus, it is kinda' unusual to get everything on the Aldi list at any time. So the fact that he batted 1000 was unusual. Needed a few items from WMT, too, also in stock Wed afternoon (the bread that DS likes was on the shelf.)

I hate to shop so I buy TP by the case routinely. Had ordered a case about a month ago. Freezer is full; the pantry is well-stocked. Always have at least 6 dozen eggs on hand in the basement refrigerator. Have plenty of tissues, paper towels and a couple of gallons of quat disinfectant on hand so no special purchase of those items. So we're good. Exception is that we will need dog food before long. We buy that at Menard's which is close to where we live.

DSII is a bartender. So far, business had been holding up and even a bit better because the winter is waning. We just got home from eating out for DH's birthday. The restaurant was packed. Of course, there may be a whole different story a week from now.

Our Walmart is basically wiped out of pretty much everything! Pretty much, nothing left but the dregs! HAHA! Sad though...I shouldn't laugh! I hope this doesn't last much longer, I mean the insanity of it! I never in my wildest dreams thought that I wouldn't be able to go grocery shopping! It will probably take over a week for Walmart to even begin to catch up! With no light at the end of the tunnel, I don't see how they can get restocked because people will be buying faster than they can put it out. Scary because I was just at the store on Tuesday and other than TP and Water, the stores had everything a person could need! Well, not any more! Thanks to the LEMMING!

I did a curbside pickup at Albertson's this week. It did look like the day before Thanksgiving in the parking lot. The only thing that was substituted on my order was jalapeno hush puppies instead of original. I was not trying to get TP, so I guess I'm all good.

The shelves in grocery stores here are bare. They are doing their best to restock but get wiped out quickly. It’s not just hoarding and profiteering at play.

Here there is a major push for social distancing specifically staying home. Estimates are this could go on 2 to 4 months to flatten the curve. So how many supplies and groceries would you need for your family for 2 months? My family of 6 uses 1-1.5 rolls of toilet paper per day when we are all at home all day. To have a two month supply we would need 60 to 90 rolls of toilet paper. Thankfully I did a big Sam’s run back in early February so we are good for now. Now do the same calculations for food and other supplies. It is mind boggling. Couple this with the fact many households eat out the majority of the time have little or no food on hand and many households have no idea if they will have a paycheck so they are trying to stock up and the grocery stores are over run.

@alisande - you should post those on the Corona humour thread here on Kitchen Table. That's funny.

After reading this, I'm glad I don't shop at Walmart or Costco. I've never been to a Walmart, and the two times I've been to Costco, it was impossible to park, and so I haven't been back.

I have a large stand-up freezer that I keep very well stocked, and so I have absolutely no worries about running out of any kind of food. I always keep good inventory of dried beans and rice as well, but then we eat those a lot. I've been meaning to pare down my freezer inventory, and so this might be a good time to start doing that. We have a second refrigerator in the garage, but it's mostly just for overflow and for when I need space to put something large in it to chill.

BTW, for those of you who think you can flush facial tissue down the toilet,think again. Facial tissue does not break down like toilet paper and can cause clogs.

moosemac contrary to the social distancing for two weeks the people who are suggesting that are not mentioning that the infection is supposed to start peaking in two weeks. The idea is to stretch the number of hospitalizations out so that it covers months and not just a very short period. To do that social distancing must happen for much longer than the suggested two weeks or the number of cases would peak again and again as people who have not had it start emerging into public. I calculated after looking at the stuff I already had back in February and started buying extra of what I thought I would need. I was basing the length of time that I would have to stay out of public contact on the length of time that China fought the virus, November through late February when it started to ease. Only thing I forgot and did not expect it to be sold out was distilled water for my CPAP. I did discover how to turn the humidifier off but it leaves my nose and throat dry.

I hope the predictors are correct and it will ease with warm weather and perhaps a mutation to a less virulent strain/

Social distancing does not mean social isolation. You only need a two week supply of food for the two weeks you will be quarantined IF you have the virus.

Self-isolation isn't possible for everyone, but it's the ideal. These animated simulations demonstrate why anyone who is able to stay home definitely should:

How to Flatten the Curve

We ALL should be staying away from everyone right now. We don't know who has the virus and who doesn't. It can take two weeks to show up. Stop going out now, BEFORE you get it and spread it to everyone else. Has nothing to do if you're healthy or not. It has to do with passing it along.

Be smart

Care for your community

Stop going out!!!!!

The elderly from 65 up are being told to stay home in some states which for many elderly does mean social isolation for many. Nothing has been mentioned about if you have it just to stay home.

It means social isolation for those under 65?

Alisande, thank you for posting that....it really helped me see what they are talking about "flattening the curve". I understood what it means but it really helped to see it demonstrated.

Here in CA our governor has "requested" all people over 65 isolate themselves.

My DH and I are both 67 and both our sons phoned us today to say that they want us to self-isolate. Huh? They're not the boss of me. :) But we are both staying pretty close to home, but we're healthy with no underlying health issues.

In Britain they want everyone over the age of 70 to self-isolate and not just for 2 weeks but for the duration of the outbreak.

ETA - effective tomorrow night all rec centers and libraries will be closed for the forseeable future.

maiflour... you can make your own distilled water. There are youtube videos to do it. It is pretty simple. Basically you set a bowl inside of a pot in a couple of inches of water. Put a bigger lid on top and invert it so as the water condenses on the lid and flows down and collects in the bowl.

adellabedella try and experiment. Instead of water use any flavored liquid. When enough is collected taste the water. While the method looks good when I tried it I had herb flavored liquid. Because of this I just do not trust the home made distilled water.