I just remembered a conversation some of the parents had a pickup on the last day before our school closed. It was about difficulty finding toilet paper. One person who was there was making the case for Toto washlet type toilet seats to avoid the scramble for toilet paper. I predict that those will rise in popularity, especially if the toilet paper scarcity continues. Similarly, I think people may start to return to cloth napkins, dishcloths, rags, dish towels, etc.. They may be forced into it by supply shortages, but then they'll realize how much better it actually is for many thing. I agree that the Toto washlet would be very nice right now with TP being in short supply; however, I don't think most people are aware of its existence. While I personally try to avoid filling landfills with single-use items (including cleaning items), I don't think turning to cloth in case of another pandemic is a realistic solution. Why? Because whatever our next crisis is, the details will vary. Our next crisis might have to do with electricity, and we might lack the ability to wash cloth items. That's the hard thing about preparedness: you prepare without knowing for certain what will happen. I missed the comment about brick and mortar schools. I’m also a teacher and believe that if learning was left up to all students and it was strictly online the retention would be poor. There have been many studies showing that. Yes, and that mirrors my personal experience. I fully accept that right now we have to do what we can for our students -- but as a long-term solution, this isn't a great choice. I don’t think anyone liked the feeling of not being able to buy whatever we wanted whenever and wherever we wanted. Yes, we are very spoiled today -- popping into the grocery store to pick up whatever convenience product and out-of-season fruit -- and we don't even stop to think about it. If there's a silver lining to this thing, perhaps that's it: it forces us to be grateful for just how much we have. In terms of creature comforts, the poorest American lives a pretty cushy life compared to all the generations who've come before us. I think if people would just do their normal shopping and stop hoarding there would be stuff on the shelves. Absolutely true, but I do understand the fear: I may not be able to leave the house to get more. We may be sick, and I need to be prepared to take care of my family's basic needs.

Re John’s comment about not being bothered by tourists in SF, unfortunately we’re retired, so we are visiting the same areas outside The City that tourists are! Namely, Napa, Sonoma, Solano, and Monterey counties. We normally do not travel in the summer due to high temps in the Wine Country as well as endless lines of tour buses, but we’ll see how it goes. We usually go on driving trips in a regular route through the above-mentioned counties. I’m an excellent cook, but I’ve been doing it for 57 yrs. Going out is my hobby, and I’m anxious to support the many excellent restaurants that have suffered under the lockdown. I fear that a large number of them will never reopen. Predictions are for 30% of restaurants nationally to shut down for good. I think that number will be higher in the San Francisco Bay Area. There are too many seat-of-the-pants eateries financed by personal credit cards and savings; they will not be able to recover from the limited reopening guidelines that will come out to prevent that dreaded “second wave”. We have some remodeling projects that our contractor will fit in as she can. We will also probably refinance the house to get some larger projects done, such as foundation work and repaving. All of these, unfortunately, are things we need to do, not that we want to do, LOL! FYI, the only hard part about making sushi is having the rice vinegar in your pantry and already owning the plastic molds. Prepping the fillings takes the most time, but once you've got that done you can turn out dozens in an hour. Now if you're talking sashimi, that's a different story. Easy if you have access to a good quality fish market or vendor, who can get you the frozen sushi-grade ahi, salmon, seabass, etc. It will always be frozen or frozen/defrosted, due to the danger of parasitic infection: "....All living organisms, including fish, can have parasites...the fish must be frozen to an internal temperature of -4°F for at least 7 days to kill any parasites that may be present. Home freezers are usually between 0°F and 10°F and are not be cold enough to kill the parasites." (from www.seafoodhealthfacts.org) BTW, sushi-grade fish, whether farmed or wild-caught, is extremely expensive retail. You won't save any money over going to a restaurant, although you'll have a lot more sashimi to enjoy! Best pieces have already been trimmed of skin and any white tendons or silverskin. Use a sharp knife (NOT serrated, preferably) and slice thick or thin, as you prefer.

Sorry raee but there is herd immunity by natural methods. Inborn immunity and active immunity are two types. Think about this, every year some version of the influenza and cold viruses circulate through the population. But how many years or decades has it been since you last had one of them? You don't get sick every year or for many decade because you have had a prior infection and the body now recognizes and stops that infection. When enough people don't become sick & don't pass on infection it protects the majority of those that by age, infants, or by immune suppression, age & medical conditions, highly susceptible.

The day before I got sick, I ran three miles, walked 10 more, then raced up the stairs to my fifth-floor apartment as always, slinging laundry with me as I went. The next day, April 17, I became one of the thousands of New Yorkers to fall ill with Covid-19. I haven’t felt the same since. I am one of the lucky ones. I never needed a ventilator. I survived. But 27 days later, I still have lingering pneumonia. I use two inhalers, twice a day. I can’t walk more than a few blocks without stopping... The second day I was sick, I woke up to what felt like hot tar buried deep in my chest. I could not get a deep breath unless I was on all fours. I’m healthy. I’m a runner. I’m 33 years old... I want Americans to understand that this virus is making otherwise young, healthy people very, very sick. I want them to know, this is no flu... Maybe you don’t live in a big city. Maybe you don’t know anybody who is sick. Maybe you think we are crazy for living in New York. That’s fine. You don’t have to live like us or vote like us. But please learn from us. Please take this virus seriously. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/14/opinion/coronavirus-young-people.html