5 ms·

See also: toilet paper shortages at the outbreak of a pandemic, etc.

talldatethrow 3y ago
The toilet paper thing/general hoarding is heavily misunderstood. I was/am a massive covid skeptic. None of the data made sense to me, from February into the summer of 2020. Im also unvaccinated for covid now. But when lockdowns were starting... My family bought tons of supplies. Amounts you'd call insane or who knows what. Do you know why I bought a lot of toilet paper and food and salt and flour?? In case I was wrong about covid. If covid turned out to be as bad as the media was talking about (videos of Chinese people shaking in the streets, newspapers in Italy full of obituaries, morgues full and digging mass dirt graves on islands), I wasnt about to go back out into ebolla-ville and buy paper to wipe my ass. Everyone presented it like hoarders were stupid to think supply lines in America would break down. That wasn't the point. If covid was actually deadly and easy to transmit, I wouldn't want to go into the streets to restock items even if they were technically in the stores.
- mikestew 3y ago
  If covid turned out to be as bad as the media... And the unwritten point being, if it turned out to be not so bad, your worst case is that you have a bunch of toilet paper that doesn't have an expiration date (or food you were going to eat anyway, or salt and flour that keeps for a long time, et al.). COVID skeptic or not, it seemed to be the smart hedge.
  - talldatethrow 3y ago
    Exactly. But the people who stocked up were labeled as some kind of idiots and nutjobs that didn't trust the system, by the exact people who swore the system was correct about the severity of covid. Call it anti-social if you want, but don't call people preparing for health preservation stupid.
    - jraph 3y ago
      I would not call them stupid, but they massively contributed to the shortage.
      - talldatethrow 3y ago
        Sorry but if it's as dire as the media made it sound, survival is first come first serve. Am I going to run out of food or have to venture into a deadly virus so that I can leave some stuff for the next guy? Good practice run for everyone.
    - HWR_14 3y ago
      I dont know anyone who called the people stockpiling stupid. People called it antisocial.

The toilet paper thing/general hoarding is heavily misunderstood. I was/am a massive covid skeptic. None of the data made sense to me, from February into the summer of 2020. Im also unvaccinated for covid now. But when lockdowns were starting... My family bought tons of supplies. Amounts you'd call insane or who knows what. Do you know why I bought a lot of toilet paper and food and salt and flour?? In case I was wrong about covid. If covid turned out to be as bad as the media was talking about (videos of Chinese people shaking in the streets, newspapers in Italy full of obituaries, morgues full and digging mass dirt graves on islands), I wasnt about to go back out into ebolla-ville and buy paper to wipe my ass. Everyone presented it like hoarders were stupid to think supply lines in America would break down. That wasn't the point. If covid was actually deadly and easy to transmit, I wouldn't want to go into the streets to restock items even if they were technically in the stores.

mikestew 3y ago
If covid turned out to be as bad as the media... And the unwritten point being, if it turned out to be not so bad, your worst case is that you have a bunch of toilet paper that doesn't have an expiration date (or food you were going to eat anyway, or salt and flour that keeps for a long time, et al.). COVID skeptic or not, it seemed to be the smart hedge.
- talldatethrow 3y ago
  Exactly. But the people who stocked up were labeled as some kind of idiots and nutjobs that didn't trust the system, by the exact people who swore the system was correct about the severity of covid. Call it anti-social if you want, but don't call people preparing for health preservation stupid.
  - jraph 3y ago
    I would not call them stupid, but they massively contributed to the shortage.
    - talldatethrow 3y ago
      Sorry but if it's as dire as the media made it sound, survival is first come first serve. Am I going to run out of food or have to venture into a deadly virus so that I can leave some stuff for the next guy? Good practice run for everyone.
  - HWR_14 3y ago
    I dont know anyone who called the people stockpiling stupid. People called it antisocial.