Life Under Coronavirus

[_Gadianton]

I already work from home and the fam won't be any more isolated than usual. I have become a student of the madness, I went to Walmart yesterday not to shop, but just to watch people to get a feel for how people are reacting. My CV life began officially Wednesday afternoon. A friend sent me a desperate text, needed help with something, and in the back and forth, he revealed that people are wiping out the TP supply of his local Costco. I'm like, WTF? It's not that kind of virus. And so I decided the next day I'd roll into my neighborhood grocer and have a look. The next morning, as I walked through the doors, a guy with latex gloves on was carting an overflowing supply of Gatorade and TP. Boy, am I slow, it hit me that it doesn't need to make sense, whether by media or word-of-mouth, if people are convinced that hoarders are out there then they must respond by getting theirs. The TP isle was half empty. Mostly, it was the no-name brand. I took a couple of those to be a good citizen about it, and then a couple of the good brand. No paper towels or tissues or napkins had been touched. I got some from those, and then went over to the medicine. Pristine. Well, once people get coronavirus and figure out they need a decongestant, not to wipe their ass a hundred times a day, then medicine is really going to be gone and so I got enough decongestants to cover my family for a few colds.

The next day I went back to check on things, and all things paper were cleaned out. A few of the smaller boxes of tissues were all that were left, and this morning also. Bottled water is wiped out also. At Walmart yesterday, the metal bins for all things paper was totally bare. The staff came out and put a few items out, and they all were gone within a couple minutes, and this being Walmart, most of it was taken by people overflowing their carts with it. One lady must have had 15 boxes of Kleenex.

I joined the herd this morning, and spent quite a bit on canned food, noodles, and stuff like that. Originally, I figured I'd just be hitting the drive through as I normally do and if I get sick, I'll just call it on on Grub Hub. But, if the hoarding mentality persists, then the guy with twenty crates of chili in his garage will be first in line at the drive-through, because he doesn't want to dip into his stash unless he has to.

I think hoarding TP and water does make sense. Both are relative necessities, have a high shelf life, and take up a lot of room. A handful of people can put a small store out. one must preemptively stock up for long enough to cover the shortage, but doing so pushes the shortage out indefinitely.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

My wife and I went to Traders Joe to pick up some Indian food for lunch, and the place was packed. Most notable were the bread shelves and frozen food section being emptied. The check out guy greeted us with, "Can you believe the insanity that's going on?" And I was like, "Yeah, it looks pretty busy." And he was like, "No, man. There were a 150 waiting outside the doors this morning, and we're on our 2nd delivery truck today. People are idiots."

Lol. I love it when clerks call their customers idiots, because I grew up in retail and I totally get it.

So. Yeah. My wife and I are having a Pandemic Saturday. We just finished watching Outbreak, and now we're watching Containment on Netflix. I tried talking her into watching 28 Days, but that's too scary.

- Doc

[_subgenius]

flavorful irony, indeed.

[_Lemmie]

My wife and I went to Traders Joe to pick up some Indian food for lunch, and the place was packed. Most notable were the bread shelves and frozen food section being emptied. The check out guy greeted us with, "Can you believe the insanity that's going on?" And I was like, "Yeah, it looks pretty busy." And he was like, "No, man. There were a 150 waiting outside the doors this morning, and we're on our 2nd delivery truck today. People are idiots."

Lol. I love it when clerks call their customers idiots, because I grew up in retail and I totally get it.

So. Yeah. My wife and I are having a Pandemic Saturday. We just finished watching Outbreak, and now we're watching Containment on Netflix. I tried talking her into watching 28 Days, but that's too scary.

- Doc

Is Contagion on your list?

And although not really pandemic movies, I loved both Snowpiercer and Cabin in the Woods for their end of the world weirdnesses. That one features a truly crazed Tilda Swindon and the other the late introduction of the fabulous Sigourney Weaver in a staid business suit while announcing the end of the world options just makes the two movies even more creepily delightful.

Spoiler alert:


Every time I see Sigourney Weaver shrug and say ”we work with what we have” when it is pointed out that the ‘Virgin-to-be-sacrificed’ is...ahem...not, I just die.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

It absolutely is! And Snowpiercer & Cabin in the Woods are two of my favorite films; CPT America and Thor were great in their respective roles.

- Doc

[_aussieguy55]

https://www.Facebook.com/cristina.higgi ... 3212885189

Got this on my Facebook page Very scary. Oh well Dr I am 75 and I have had a good life.

[_Res Ipsa]

Ms. Ipsa had a sparsely attendees class this morning. She passed our local business Costco, and the just to get in the parking lot was backed up onto the grocery store parking lots were jammed. I forgot to buy milk, so I’ll head out for a looksie late tonight. When the dust settles, I wonder if we’ll be able to estimate how much of the virus was spread by panic shopping.

[_aussieguy55]

Hillsong Sydney which is a very large Pentecostal church while promoting some steps to avoid like handshaking etc is promoting the passage in Psalm 91 v 10 There shall no evil befall thee neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling"

[_Jersey Girl]

I got some from those, and then went over to the medicine. Pristine. Well, once people get coronavirus and figure out they need a decongestant, not to wipe their ass a hundred times a day, then medicine is really going to be gone and so I got enough decongestants to cover my family for a few colds.

Gad I can't THANK you enough for mentioning decongestants. This is very important to us and I hadn't even thought about it. Shortly after I saw your post I sourced a couple packs online. Hopefully will get a few more to add to that since the ordering system only allowed for 2.

Thank you!

[_MsJack]

Every time I see Sigourney Weaver shrug and say ”we work with what we have” when it is pointed out that the ‘Virgin-to-be-sacrificed’ is...ahem...not, I just die.

Love that movie.

If anyone wants a good read to go with their self-isolation, I recommend Severance by Ling Ma. It's about a Chinese-American immigrant who completes Bible layouts in New York City (she's not religious herself) trying to navigate the end of the world from a deadly illness. It had a surprising and delightful Utah Mormon connection.

I found TP, paper towels, and eggs at an Asian market (of all places). We should be good to bunker down now for a few weeks, minus one trip to the grocery store per week for essentials like milk, and we may just use Wal-Mart grocery pick-up for that.

We actually went and saw a movie today (Bad Boys for Life). We were the only ones in the theater. Brought our hand sanitizer and our Chlorox wipes, wiped the seats down, maintained our distance from people while going in and out.