I am Befuddled….

37

I do not understand the panic stricken mad purchases of toilet paper that are occurring everywhere….. If there is a potential for a three week self-quarantine…wouldn’t food and drink be more logical to stock up on?

People have collectively lost their minds!

On Sunday we went to Costco. The freezer had been well depleted of the pre-prepped things I usually keep in there. A few meatloafs, lasanga, chicken cordon bleu, twice baked potatoes, honey lime stir fry chicken, lemon tarragon chicken cutlets, slow cooker stew, salmon parcels, chorizo mac & cheese…. Things I make in batches and freeze for those days when we are uninspired and too tired to think. For when one of us is travelling and the other doesn’t feel like cooking (that’d be me in the latter role). Or when a comfort meal is in order.

So we needed to stock up on some meats, cheeses, and a few basics. We didn’t really need toilet paper for a couple more weeks, but we figured since we were going we might as well pick some up.

Normally we head to Costco on a Sunday at shortly after opening. It seems to be one of the “quieter” times of the week. Maybe people are still at church, or having brunch. I don’t know, but it never seems as stupid crazy in the parking lot as it gets later on in the early afternoon.

But we stupidly ended up there at around 12:30. Right when it usually gets busy. So we steeled ourselves for the chaos.

We got a couple of surprises when we arrived.

• #1. The parking lot was half empty.
• #2. Inside was totally calm and rather unpopulated
• #3. One could roll right up to the cashier without any wait
• #4. There was not a roll of toilet paper in the entire warehouse

Where the mountains of toilet paper usually sit were pallets of Kleenex. It didn’t make sense. This virus is a respiratory virus. It’s not a Montezuma’s Revenge bug. Why toilet paper?

When we rolled up to the checkout we commented to the cashier about the quiet environment and how unusual it was.

She replied that there had been a lineup before opening and everyone (literally) ran to the back of the store to load up their carts with toilet paper. No food. Just toilet paper.

Oh, and bottled water. Which is another head scratcher. BC has some of, if not the, best tap water in the world. It’s not an earthquake, or a hurricane, of potential fire evacuations. It’s a virus and the taps in your home will still flow clean. So what’s with the run on bottled water?

I’m sure that someone out there must have done a thesis and/or written a few papers on irrational impule purchases in the face of an impending disaster….I think I’d like to read that.

Because I am completely befuddled by the current insanity. And it seems to (largely) be aimed at the big box stores. Costco, Wal Mart, Superstore. We were in London Drugs Sunday afternoon and there was lots available. Today there was no shortage at Save on Foods. Yet today, again, there was video of people rushing into Costco to stock up. Given that the Costco packs are something like 48 double sized rolls, and people are buying three or more cases at a time from what I could see in the insane videos….what the hell are they doing with it and where are they putting it? Are people really going to pay a premium for toilet paper on kajiji?

And then there is the hand sanitizer and the sanitizing wipes.

All gone, everywhere. Except for the creep in the mall at the newsstand selling $3 bottles for $11.50. Are people really paying that over washing their hands more often?

Talk about a herd mentality. Lemmings come to mind.

There is no shortage of isopropyl alcohol in the stores (I looked today). All hand sanitizers are is a solution of 60-70% isopropyl alcohol in water and a few other things, like moisturizer and fragrance. Pay $5.00 for a 500mL bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol, throw in a few drops of peppermint oil so it smells better, and put it into a spray bottle. Voila! Instant spray hand (and surface) sanitizer. And then use your favourite moisturizer afterwards to keep your hands nice and soft and healthy.

Yes, this virus is a bit scary. A lot of people are infected, it is still spreading rapidly, and a lot of people are dying from it. It’s not benign and shouldn’t be taken lightly. A month ago I was a bit blasé about it, but I’m much less so now. The models are concerning, and we need to pay attention and consider what our role in its spread is/will be. Below is an interesting article outlining some of the probabilities.

What’s your risk of dying of COVID-19 – or inadvertently allowing the death of someone in your community?

What can you do?

• Wash your hands, a lot!
  • Wash them before you eat
  • Wash them after you eat
  • Wash them when you get to work
  • Wash them when you leave work
  • Wash them when you get home
  • Wash them before you cook dinner
  • Wash them when you go to bed
  • And…I’d like to think I don’t have to mention. this…but given what I still witness in the public washroom…wash them after you go to the bathroom!
  • Soap and water is amazing stuff!
• Don’t hang around sick people…or large crowded areas where sick people aren’t yet displaying signs that they are sick
• If you are feeling under the weather…don’t go share what ails you with your co-workers, or your hairdresser, or your dentist, or your chiropractor, or your nail technician, or wherever else you go for whatever appointments you usually have
• Clean your cell phone! And your landline at work (if you have one). Every time you touch something and you pick up your phone, the phone is becoming contaminated…then you put it against your face…..
• Clean your keyboard
• Clean your mouse
• Clean your desk surfaces, particularly if, like me, you know others share your desk on days that you are away from it
• Clean the arms of your chair
• Clean the steering wheel and the stick shift in your car. Everything you touched outside the car is transferred when you get in to drive away
• Basically, just be conscious of whatever you touch and then what you touch afterwards…
• Don’t touch your face

I made a conscious effort to stop touching my face today…. Your eyes, nose, and mouth are major entry points for pathogens… I failed miserably. I truly did not realize how much I rest my chin on my hand, rub my nose, rub my eyes, rest my forehead on my hand as I write, and so on.

I’d love to see us detach ourselves from our need for fossil fuels, but the world is in a strange new territory when the value of toilet paper seems to have passed that of a barrel of oil…and some people seem to think that the toilet paper holds more value.

As Hagrid said “No good sittin’ worryin’ abou’ it. What’s comin’ will come, an’ we’ll meet it when it does.” Just be smart.

So seriously people, stop with the toilet paper.

You are acting like complete idiots where that one is concerned!

(70/365)