Shopping for groceries is like hell right now

We have little to eat here and all of the food is empty on the shelves. This lifestyle is not sustainable.

Maybe the government should start sending everyone meals.

Delivery trucks carrying TP will need armed drivers to prevent robbery. They better deliver in armored vehicles.

When Trump tours the disaster areas he will toss tp to voters.

You can shop for my groceries. I hate doing it.

they are telling drivers not to tell anyone they are carrying TP

I'm going on an egg diet.

Have you tried Etsy?

When you run out of toilet paper, use Kleenex.

When you run out of Kleenex, use paper towels.

When you run out of paper towels, use newspaper.

When you run out of newspaper, use leaves.

the small bodegas around me are fine

R8 but don't flush kleenex or wipes...clogs the pipes and you'll be ankle deep in your own shit.

Get psyllium husk supplement and you’ll need 1/10th of the toilet paper you do now. Or a Tushy, and eliminate the need for TP completely.

It's the food I'm most worried about. Necessities are running out of stock. Fuck this capitalism shit. Give us healthy meals government.

I know it will make me sound like a sad sack but I’m worried about running out of cat food for my 2 cats. Chewy is sold out of everything.

R13, it's a dog eat dog world, so one of you will be food at some point.

Just got home from the store, there was no peanut butter, pasta, taco shells ... I’m going back when they open Thursday morning and hoping for better luck.

i advise using a squirt bottle for the womenfolk instead of paper. and individually marked towels for drying off.

now is the perfect time to wean off paper after urinating. they may feel so clean and wonderful, they will never go back.

Unlikely there is or will be a food shortage in the U.S. It's just crazy people hoarding stuff they don't need to hoard. Try to relax. I just came from my Publix here in Florida and the store had pretty much everything in stock, as usual.

What did people expect given our country’s obesity rate? Everybody should have stocked up early.

Kroger in Central Virginia. No TP or Paper Towels. Everything else was stocked as usual.

r17

I don't know what Publix is, but you're in Florida. Your state is moving way behind Cali, NY, etc and has not yet reached our panic level.

I live in Los Angeles. I've found that little mom and pop stores have plenty of stuff and much shorter lines. There is this little Arminian grocer next door to my supermarket and they were stocked with better-looking fruit and vegetables. I also hear that Korean and other Asian markets are well stocked.

I had to walk to a small convenience a fair distance away in order to finally get some paper towels.

If you can, go to your grocery store at off-peak hours. My Safeway opens at 6:00 a.m. I'm not sure I can go THAT early, but I could be there around 7:30 a.m.

At WinCo early this morning, I saw a man dumping the pinto bean bin into several grocery bags he had laid on the floor. And a woman with a cart stacked with meat of every kind, easily over $1000 worth - I noticed her when her stack of ribs fell onto the floor. I spoke to the store manager and he said they are only permitted to restrict quantities per corporate policy, which means water, toilet paper and cleaning products at this time.

I wrote WinCo today and asked them to institute quantity limits on everything, since now people are grabbing as much of whatever they can get their hands on. At Target later this morning, same thing, a woman with a cart half filled with disinfecting wipes, because for some reason, Target doesn't have purchase limits on those.

Three tips: 1. Go shopping early. As early as you can. 2. Ask store staff/managers when they get their trucks in, so you know when to show up for certain items. 3. Write corporate and tell them to institute quantity limits on everything to stop the crazy hoarders who are making things impossible for everybody.

This so not directed at OP, but many people I’ve seen complain were at their designer stores this weekend like Whole Paycheck & Trader Joes. Meanwhile my Kroger and Meijer had all the necessities, minus TO and hand sanitizer. This week, there are shortages at various times. My stepmom works at a grocery store. Food is still coming in so there is no need for an outright panic, but people may need to try low market stores and try multiple times.

Amazon is still delivery food to my knowledge.

I went to the store at lunch because my fat ass needs ice cream in the freezer. No TP (but I'm fully stocked), no pasta, very little fresh meat, no bottled water, no frozen fruit/vegetables, low selection of soup/canned goods. Plenty of ice cream and cheez-its for my fat ass, though.

I hope so, R25. I hedged my bet by placing orders with them, Keyfood (instacart) and FD. I'm sure some of the stuff i ordered will be out of stock by the time they put together my order, so if one place doesn't have it, another hopefully will.

Why do women poop so much more than men when they eat less food?

hormones r28

I am going now...I hope there will be toilet paper. . I bet there will be.

R21 - this is true for my neighborhood too. I live in SF and all the little markets and corner stores are open and stocked. Also, all the farmers' markets in SF will be operating as normal throughout this shutdown. However, the big name stores are indeed a cesspool of panicky, selfish hoarders. Grateful to the small businesses right now more than ever!

R28 - it's not poop - women use toilet paper every time they go to pee.

They can't shake the vagina dry - although that would be very entertaining to watch.

[quote]I also hear that Korean and other Asian markets are well stocked.

I think we can guess why

I live in Chicago and the Jewel and Walmart Foods are crowded to Saturday afternoon levels by 8am.

These small businesses you all recommend overcharge in normal times and should not be rewarded for charging higher prices.

Go on a diet.

R13 - create an account with Petco. They had a lot of what I needed and will deliver this week. I live in a city though so it might be a different delivery situation where you live.

[quote] Try to relax. I just came from my Publix here in Florida and the store had pretty much everything in stock, as usual.

Really? They had hand sanitizer, bleach, lysol wipes and rubbing alcohol? Post pics. I call bullshit. No one can find these things anywhere. My neighborhood markets have meat shortages and the pasta aisles are bare.

IF we only had some guidance as to what a lock down would look like, people would calm down.

I bought 150 napkins at the Dollar Tree, a reasonable backup for any situation.

Amazon shut down deliveries.

Also, get canned meat/tuna if you're super worried about your cat.

I went to four stores last night and the entire paper goods aisles were completely empty - nothing but long rows of empty shelving. What are people doing with this stuff??? I was able to pretty much get the food I needed.

I think we have a hoarder. Imagine how much tp this ass eats-up regularly (Mike Pence's tongue can't do it all)?

I have gotten no notice of Amazon shutting down food deliveries, R38. And you've misread what they've stopped: Won't be selling from third party sellers whose stuff isn't already in their warehouses. They want to make more room from necessities, so that third party seller from China can't sell their shitty, knock off airbuds

Shave your ass. Everything comes out smooth and barely anything to wipe away.

FOR* necessities

My shop only had burned champagne and Osetrova caviar. I'll serve it to that fake Dominique. She'll never know the difference.

Screw all that. I'm buying a shotgun. I'm on a budget and last time I was buying, I had more to spend.

I guess Walmart?

Are most stores still out of ground beef? I'm so hungry for spaghetti bolognese right now.

[quote] Are most stores still out of ground beef? I'm so hungry for spaghetti bolognese right now.

Chicagoan here.

My small local grocery had some meat (including ground beef) stocked yesterday. I checked their Facebook page the night before (Sunday) and their message was that there would be an early delivery of milk and meat Monday morning. I got there about 8AM (they open at 7) and got my ground beef.

I usually make a huge pot of meat sauce and then freeze it in individual portion containers. Did it yesterday. Enough sauce for about 18 servings.

Welcome to my very precarious world, bitches.

My grocery store was decently stocked yesterday. Frozen food was picked through, but not empty. Same with canned soup. Strangely they had a lot of toilet paper, but only Northern brand. Go figure...

They didn't have Ramen noodles today at Target. Where's a good place to buy them?

Chinese market, R51. Guarantee you'll find it there

I think most U.S. Ameticans eat out, pamper themselves. And with the restaurants shutting down they had to run to the grocery store for the first time in years.

Got back from Aldi by my house about an hour ago. Just needed a few things. Limit of 3doz on eggs and almost sold out. Very little in lettuce/salad greens (got the last pkg of romaine hearts. No iceberg or spring mix at all). Noticed that paper goods shelves were virtually empty. Same for bread items.

II'm surprised so many people are running out of food. Why didn't they stock up earlier? God knows there's been enough publicity.

R24, Wegmans is way ahead of you. They’ve restricted almost everything but junk food and charcoal.

What's the tampon situation at your place, OP?

I hope milk doesn't become scarce, I like cereal.

R55 some people had to be cool and blow this off. When the responsible people took action a rush formed and cool people were left complaining.

Thankfully, this does not apply to DL. Most people on here aren't rushing around in a panic, but I love hearing about local updates. This site is like a CB Radio.

R55, the crazy hit only last Wednesday night, when Trump made his speech. I had to work that evening and had an appointment Thursday morning. By Thursday afternoon, the first chance I had to shop, everything was upside down, and has been ever since. I suspect there were a number of people - I was one of them but was quickly disabused by my neighbors and coworkers on Thursday morning - who thought coronavirus measures would be minimally disruptive. I've been to the stores 3X now, and cannot find many basics, including cheaper cuts of meat, most fruits and vegetables, dairy, eggs, paper products and many cleaning supplies. I plan on going to the bougie side of town early tomorrow morning and getting what I can then.

i am worried about my dog. I don't eat a lot of meat but i feed my dog chicken and turkey and couldn't find any. He also eats his kibble but i'm worried i won't find any meat for him

Hogs from hell in the store. Cunts, every last one of them.

Can some of you add your location with your anecdotes? I'm generally interested.

The government needs to do something? That made me laugh. What country do you live in? If it’s the US, waiting on the government to do something will prove fatal.

The Targets, Walmarts and Krogers had toilet paper in Houston today. Kroger had bread in the morning.

The government needs to give these first line workers a one year tax reduction for keeping the peace. Emergency services, healthcare workers, grocery store staff, water, electricity, truck, and rail operators. They are the heroes saving the world from anarchy.

I'd never dreamt it possible to consume the amount of toilet paper women do until I had a female roommate.

The government do something? Roars with laughter

Just came from Trader Joes and Target in our East SF Bay Area neighborhood and everything is empty.

Went to the less desirable Pak N Sav on the Oakland border and a world of difference.

Don't mimic all your frau friends taking selfies in front of the last roll of paper towels to show the world they are edumacated and aware of her serious Karonavirus is.

"A roll a day"

OMG It takes two weeks to go through a roll.

In San Jose this morning, Trader Joe’s had returned to normal, but that’s because they were only letting in 10 people at a time. So it was cool in there. Yesterday I went into a Fadmax and it was like end days in there. I ran out as fast as I could.

I think We’ve got enough for us and the cats for two weeks. I’m a bit a boozehound, but I think I can keep it in check. Hopefully.

[quote]"A roll a day". OMG It takes two weeks to go through a roll.

Not if you’re Lizzo.

OP who are these four women you live with?

Me needs at least 3 rolls of TP and a mop to wipe down this bad boy

R73, Fuck man, why you hate us?

R52 I went to the local Asian market today their shelves were bare too. They usually have a dozen varieties of frozen dumplings the display cases were bare with only a few bags of one brand left. No tp or other basic items.

R68 - Trader Joe's, Target, Costco, Whole Foods, and Safeway stores are the go-to cheap bulk shopping stores so everyone hits them first. It's been the same in SF. Hopefully, these panicky morons will sit home for a week now that they've stocked up on months of products. Christ, it's like when I lived in Utah and the Mormons had their prepper basements filled with apocalypse stores.

Stories on CNN and MSNBC tonight about how there are no food shortages. The reason some things are temporarily out of stock is because people are buying in bulk, which is really what you're supposed to be doing since they want us to limit our trips to stores.

I had to put R73 on ignore. My God, vomit-inducing.

[quote] Trader Joe's, Target, Costco, Whole Foods, and Safeway stores are the go-to cheap bulk shopping stores

Whole Foods is NOT a go-to cheap bulk shopping store. Just about everything there is super expensive, even when there's a sale.

Be grateful that you weren't in this fracas...

And Trader Joe's isn't cheap either. It's cheaper than most of the competition, but you can easily spend $75 a bag on groceries there. I spent $55 on a not-full bag yesterday. Safeway consistently ranks as one of the most expensive chain groceries in the US. I bought 2 bags of frozen vegetables there today - they were ON SALE for 2 for $5. These same vegetables sell at WinCo for $1.75 every day.

Costco is the mildly discounted midrange, where basics and Karen get their kids' chicken nuggets, some premade broccoli salads for their cubicle lunches, something-something microfiber, bully sticks for the dog, name brand toiletries and household cleaners in bulk...

I went to Costco and there was no toilet paper it was crazy. When I got there I was like “there is no toilet paper it’s crazy”.

It's Russia in the 1980s when we go to a grocery store now. I cannot stand it

Thank goodness WinCo started enforcing quantity limits on EVERY FUCKING THING today. They sent me an email in reply to mine this morning, explaining they programmed their registers to prevent over-buying. Fucking love it. Went back today. Eggs, limit 1 dozen. People were trying to buy 2 and 3. The lady in front of me? Stopped at the register. Fabulous. The store was nearly normal today, except for the absence of PQ.

"The government needs to do something."

THIS "government" is giving money to billionaires, spreading lies to ensure mass deaths of poor people. They're damn sure not going to force a grocery store to restock your Yoplait.

Can someone here please post a form letter, so that some of us can email our grocery and drug stores, locally?

It would be greatly appreciated.

Some of you are excellent writers, and you get results.

The hoarding pigs I've seen in grocery stores over the past week are unbelievable. They're making life impossible for everybody else.

Seriously, bitches, where the fuck am I supposed to get toilet paper?

r88 Most in Asia use a hand bidet spray. It's cleaner and you only a minimum amount of TP to dry up afterwards.

^ only need a ..

These hoarding pigs wait for the stores to restock and then go and grab a cartful of toilet paper. They already have enough at home to last for months. I fucking HATE them.

R89, not my question. At all. I don’t care how much you and others might love their bidets. I want to purchase toilet paper.

It bothers me that stores didn't start instituting limits until well after the panic buying started.

I was at Trader Joe's yesterday, and they were out of most things that weren't fresh.

Some of what they were out of was baffling. My boyfriend wanted their pale ale mustard, but that was all gone, and I wonder if at least some of the "panic" buying was people stocking up on special Trader Joe's products to sell online at a markup.

The store also had a notice telling customers they can only fill one cart at a time, which seems too little/too late. Except for the mustard, we fortunately were able to get everything else we wanted.

Despite my stocking up at Costco three weeks ago ("stocking up" meant buying one package/box of toilet paper, cleaners, and shelf-stable food), we went today, and I'll give Costco credit for managing the situation fairly well. They make you wait in line to get in to minimize how many customers are in there at a time. Fortunately, they only seemed to need to limit the purchase of paper products and disinfectants, but we did see a woman there with three overloaded carts of non-perishables. Her final bill was FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS.

I think I'd be much more screwed by running out of soap and toothpaste. There are alternatives to toilet paper.

There are alternatives to toothpaste: Baking soda or charcoal.

Soap: Dish Washing Liquid or Tide.

R94, flossing cleans your mouth magnitudes more than brushing. If you have to choose between the two, floss.

R93 what city are you in and how long did you have to wait to get inside the Costco?

R97

Seattle. We waited about 20 minutes, but we also were there soon after they opened.

I never understood the Costco thing, my boyfriend and I just don't need things in bulk so I felt like it wasn't worth it to me. If I needed a big thing of paper towel or toilet paper I could get it at Target or Meijer at a better price. Of course now I wish I would have stocked up more.

still in my area the stores have no toilet paper, bread, butter, sugar, pasta and no meat/poultry. I found two restaurant that I like that was staying open, for take out only. Neither one gave out paper towels and utensils with order. I

If a store would have a drive through window for toilet paper and tissues and some cleaning supplies that would be a helpful business, right now.

[quote]If I needed a big thing of paper towel or toilet paper I could get it at Target or Meijer at a better price.

That's doubtful. If you buy something like Charmin, the biggest pack you can get at Target is $30.00, which is the sale price. At Costco, the sale price of the same pack is $18.99.

I live in suburbia in a blue state. On the local suburban news channel today they showed literal lines outside gun shops. Shotguns are selling out fast.

Oh great r102, I will end up like the David Cronenberg character in Last Night

[quote] create an account with Petco. They had a lot of what I needed and will deliver this week.

My cats eat old fashioned Fancy Feast pate. Petco no longer carries it because it has artificial ingredients. I tried the new stuff - they won’t eat it. Also, even when Petco sold their Fancy Feast pates my cats refused to eat it. Same with Chewy. I think they use cheaper ingredients. Years ago I read an in-depth report about Walmart & Entenmann’s wanted Walmart to stock their stuff. Walmart told Entenmann's what price they could charge for their products at Walmart. Entemanns said they couldn’t produce their products at that price. Walmart said “too bad.” Entenmann’s really wanted Walmart’s market, so they changed their ingredients for the products they sold at Walmart. The Entenmann’s you bought at your local supermarket was not the same as the Entenmann’s you bought at Walmart.

I think the same thing is happening with cat food. The cat food Purina makes for Chewy & Petco is not the same as the cat food they make for supermarkets. My cats could always tell a pet store delivery of their food. They’d sniff it & walk away.

I'm noticing delays on shipments through Petco.

R104, interesting re: Entenmann's. I don't even see them sold anywhere near me. The only items I occasionally see by them are their packaged, bags, donuts. Otherwise, I haven't seen any of their other items in years.

I'm sure you've already checked, but did you try Amazon for the Fancy Feast Pate? I don't know which particular ones you buy, but I noticed they had several in stock.

Safeway got their truck in yesterday. They said they will be stocking overnight. I am going to go to the store at 5am when they open today. I will then head over to Walgreens this morning, as their truck comes today. I need gloves, hand sanitizer (also for my job, in health industry-I have 1/4 bottle left), masks and Clorox wipes and I will have what I need to protect my 88 year old mom, and my smoker partner.

Good luck, R106.

R104

The one time I shopped at Walmart, I bought a pack of Duracell batteries, and those things went dead in the box shockingly fast (assuming they weren't dead from the beginning). Due to the abhorrent way Walmart treats its suppliers, I figured name brands unload the duds onto Walmart and/or intentionally give them crap products.

R108 I worked for one of Walmarts suppliers yeas ago. Walmart tells their vendors how much they will pay for their products and will give them a list of recommended manufacturers. If you want to make a profit you have to make it as cheap as possible since the profit margin per unit is razor thin. Walmart makes up for this by ordering huge quantities I think they have 1400+ stores in the US. I'm not surprised most of their stuff is crap.

R99 don’t get me started on Meijers. I moved from the burbs into Chicago and dearly miss my Sunday Meijer’s shopping trips. Love that store. My last palace had a brand new one built 10 minutes from my house. Was absolutely wonderful.

Costco and Sams Club, oddly left out of all discussions and news articles, are great when buying toilet paper and paper towels because you buy it once and won’t need to go back for 8-12 months, if not longer for a household of 1 or 2. But I use wait till my parents or club friends with memberships go and get it done for the year.

r110 my friend who moved to Florida also said he misses Meijer. I really like the "one stop shopping" where I can buy everything in one trip and the prices are good too.

R104, Did you try PetSmart? I know they carry Fancy Feast, don’t know about the quality.

I’ve had some success securing things by going online, finding all the store locations of a certain chain, then going to the most remote locations at the edges of town. My local Home Depot was sold out, but the one in the industrial part of town had a lot of what I wanted. Same with Sams Club, a newer Costco in the most remote fringes of town, and an Ace Hardware at the edge of town.

If you have to go get groceries, for example, research what chains are either in the industrial part of town, or the farthest fringes. Also, as far as Costco, Sams and other chains, they don’t always have the same hours at every branch. In my town, Costco has a “business center” downtown. They don’t carry all the exact items, but they ran out of cold meds last. Their specialty is items catering to commercial businesses like restaurants. They are also open hours before the others.

There’s a Sams Club in the poor part of town, in an industrial area, surrounded by truck stops and waste processing. They’ve run out slower too.

Also, restaurant supply stores may have some items. It’s worth it to look for businesses catering to other commercial businesses. Especially if they’re in the industrial part of town where most people don’t go. At least some restaurant supply places are open to the public. Check online before you go.

Yup r111 Meijer is a like a hybrid of a Target, Jewel/Kroger, and a Walmart. Target quality of general products, Walmart’s prices, with Jewel/Kroger quality of meats and produce. Great sales, which is why it was bum rushed over the past two weeks.

I ridered acetaminophen from target.com two days ago but they just cancelled it

My friend in Tampa said that his Publix is still out of water. He travels every week for work, so his home is never stocked with food. I begged him to take this seriously and try to find food. We don’t love close or I would invite him over. He wants to just hunker down like during hurricanes with no real food.

R104, your cats will eat anything if they get hungry enough, including you.

[quote] don’t get me started on Meijers. I moved from the burbs into Chicago and dearly miss my Sunday Meijer’s shopping trips.

That’s midwestern to put a “‘s” after a store name. The store name is just Meijer.

It's not hell in Switzerland. I went today. There aren't crowds, but it's moderately busy. The stores have plastic wrapped aisles of things they are not allowed to sell, because it's supposed to be food, body care, and cleaning products. It seemed scattershot. The kitchenware aisle was open. I could buy my favorite champagne flutes, because I broke 2 the other day. I could buy printer paper, but not a memory stick. That sort of thing. Weird gaps in food inventory, but overall plenty of food. Plenty of expensive meat, cheese, and prepared food that nobody is buying which means it gets marked down. This is not great, as it tempts me to return every few days for cheaper shopping, rather than limiting trips. I had roast beef tonight and delicious fig and walnut and greens salad, marked down.

The pharmacy had the same set up. Many aisles wrapped and untouchable. You can buy perfume in the supermarket, but not in the pharmacy (which is where people buy perfume here).

The florists are all closed - independent as well as those in supermarkets.

I wonder if the florists in the cemeteries remain open. I will check. It's warming up and I'll want to plant summer flowers so I hope I can buy them eventually.

Still no bleach.

I went to the store in Denver this morning. I arrived at 6:30am, before they opened at 7:00, and there were already 20 something people in line. I had to stand in the rain for a half hour before they opened. When they opened the doors, everyone ran in to the toilet paper isle. They apparently had been out for 3 days. They limited it to one per family, and some tacky bitch asked if she could go out to her car and come back in. The man guarding the paper said that he couldn’t stop her. I saw her walking back into the store, with a big smile on her face when I was unloading my stuff. The meat department was empty, but there was plenty of frozen seafood for some reason. The cleaning supply section and cold medication isles were also wiped out, along with all dried beans, rice, and bottled water.

[quote] Still no bleach.

Why do people want bleach? They live in their own homes with their own germs. Just wash your damn hands & shower. Use bleach the way you normally do. What do people think they're killing by drenching their own homes in bleach?

[quote] The cleaning supply section and cold medication isles were also wiped out

Fucking druggies need their ingredients to make meth and heroin.

Oh honey you can't make heroin from cleaning products.

I've gone to my local Kroger between 2pm and 3pm every day for the past four days. I stopping working early to do it. Nothing I use is on the shelves, cereal, produce, canned fruits and vegetables, orange juice, milk, butter, soups... I asked an employee when they restock the shelves in the afternoon. They don't, only overnight.

A woman ahead of me at the cashier had eight 6-packs of paper towels in her cart. The store limit is three. The cashier didn't stop her from purchasing all of them. I asked her why. She said she was told not to upset a customer.

If there is nothing wrong with the supply chain, why is my Kroger so bare? It doesn't make sense.

I'm beginning to believe we will have to start rationing. My Dad said everyone got through it when we rationed before. It was considered a patriotic duty to do your part.

50% of people are incapable of that sort of patriotism, based on denying self-interest.

R117 God, I miss Meijer's...

People in Michigan never understand why I like it so much and go there for everything when I'm in town.

[quote]I'm beginning to believe we will have to start rationing. My Dad said everyone got through it when we rationed before. It was considered a patriotic duty to do your part.

Unfortunately, Americans today are a lot different from WWII-era Americans. We're a nation of stupid, spoiled, selfish, me-first assholes. As we've all seen with these asshole hoarders over the past week or so.

r126

And the Florida partiers.

Went to CVS and Whole Foods today in the early afternoon. They both had a good supply of 1 gallon jugs of water, bulk 6-gallon cases, and 24-16oz packs. Whole Foods had an ample supply of bread, but most of the milk was gone. The meat dept had fair amount of meat and frozen prepared chicken (Bell & Evens) I didn't check for TP or paper towels, as I've stocked up a small amount of them to last me a few weeks. If the food supply chain becomes dire, I have enough dry goods to carry me through about 3 weeks if I ration my supplies.

I agree that we will almost certainly have to start rationing at some point in the near future, or, at the very least, strictly enforcing limits on quantities. If some of these doomsday-like predictions come to be, such as 50% plus of the California population being infected in the next 2 months, we will be living in a world that will be hard to imagine. As people have pointed out earlier, the America of WWII was vastly different than today's America. Back then, the vast majority saw themselves as part of a whole that needed to work together. Yes, there are currently many people making huge sacrifices, such as in healthcare, and charitable organizations, and in science, but the rest of us, it seems, not so much.

What are people doing with all the paper towels.

I don't get the burning urgency behind paper towels.

This is one of the few times I’m glad I live alone with my two dogs.

My Whole Foods is nearly empty. I was there at 6:30 p.m., and the stocking crew was putting toilet paper on the shelves. But the chips section, the pasta section, the frozen foods sections are 90% empty.

Earlier today, I tried to order a grocery delivery from Whole Foods. I selected 12 items, and the website said that all 12 products were in stock. But...when I went to choose a delivery time, there were no available delivery windows today, tomorrow, or Saturday. (The calendar didn't go further than that.) Why didn't the site tell me that BEFORE I shopped online. So I walked a mile and a half to the store to buy the items. Only 1 of the 12 items was actually in stock. What a waste of time.

[quote]I've gone to my local Kroger between 2pm and 3pm every day for the past four days. I stopping working early to do it. Nothing I use is on the shelves, cereal, produce, canned fruits and vegetables, orange juice, milk, butter, soups... I asked an employee when they restock the shelves in the afternoon. They don't, only overnight. A woman ahead of me at the cashier had eight 6-packs of paper towels in her cart. The store limit is three. The cashier didn't stop her from purchasing all of them. I asked her why. She said she was told not to upset a customer. If there is nothing wrong with the supply chain, why is my Kroger so bare? It doesn't make sense. I'm beginning to believe we will have to start rationing. My Dad said everyone got through it when we rationed before. It was considered a patriotic duty to do your part.

Is it wrong that I'm reading a lot of these anecdotes with this music in my head?

(Not laughing at you, btw -- I'm in the same frustrating boat)

R32 eeeewww, now I can’t get that visual out of my head. That’s just gross.

My Dearest Louisa,

I think of you, and home, often. The corn pone, the bacon and grits...if only such luxuries were mine again...! And if only I could see you, Louisa, and spend the afternoon playing whist with you once more. Even your mother’s dulcet tones would be welcome.

How much I have taken for granted. The sounds of children playing in the street, the laughter wafting out through the open windows. But now, there is only silence.

The hardships in this place are immense. No fresh bread, meat or milk. Not even a corncob or Sears catalog to be found for my private moments. There is so much I have taken for granted, but no more. The softest tissue is but a distant memory. Even Northern would be welcome at my most despairing moments...!

[quote] As people have pointed out earlier, the America of WWII was vastly different than today's America. Back then, the vast majority saw themselves as part of a whole that needed to work together.

I think that also nearly doubled in population.

Back then, we were around 200,000,000.

Now, we're 350,000,000.

Much more than doubled, R135.

US population 1940 (census): 132 million US population 2020 (est.): 331 million

The US was also much more of a homogenous population back in the 40s.

Go to ethnic stores, latin grocers and Asian markets. Literally tons of food stocked and few people shopping. Guess the xenophobia is preventing people from shopping there. Only white grocery stores are struggling. as a bonus you support small business.

R138 "Only white grocery stores are struggling." Huh?

Yeah, nobody's going to a fucking Asian market right now.

Well it's r106. My list of getting any gloves, Clorox wipes, masks & hand sanitizer was a total bust. Started Safeway at 5am. They had put up their truck, but nothing on the list. They had plenty of TP, so I bought 2 packs of Cottenelle with 50¢ off coupon, and the big score, 1 box of 6 OdoBan disinfectent. I only grabbed 2, as I don't want to be that greedy asshole. I then went to the 2nd Safeway. They were going through a store reset, so they had nothing, but I scored some half-price rice pilaf and brown rice with vegetables and some other stuff. Giant nearby opened at 6, so I thought, what the hell, give them a try. Waited in line, I was about #8. While standing some women came through to grab a cart, and promptly stood in front of me. A moment later, she turns and says so sorry, and begins coughing into the open area. Bitch. I was standing away, but not 6ft. But Giant had nothing on the list. Before work, I stopped by after work. Their truck got delayed till after 1pm. I took my lunch at around 2:30pm, went to the store but their delivery was still in there totes, and no one was putting the stock out. I again stopped by after work at around 6:30pm, they were putting the stock up, but they had not receive ANYTHING on the list. Since we no longer have any manufacturing in the USA, we must really on getting these imported from other countries? What incentive do they have to ship to the USA, when their own counties will need these items? Will it be hopeless for a long while? I am exhausted. My partner slept in; his usual contribution.

Stores in my area have started rationing items people have been hoarding I bought Clorox Antibacterial wipes at Target they were limiting it to one per customer and they were well stocked with toilet paper and paper towels. Shop Rite was limiting water to 2 gallons a customer. This has limited the panic buying and made shopping less anxious.

R138, WTF are you talking about? Only white businesses? You're so provincial.

All of the grocery stores around me are owned by Middle Eastern people and they're doing tons of business. They actually try to keep restocking TT. At least at the Keyfood where I was.

R141 mentions the real problem that’s being glossed over: that manufacturing is done in foreign countries and they’re keeping stock for themselves. That’s why there are no masks.

There are a lot of prepared foodstuffs that are processed through China. The ingredients may come from the U.S., but it’s assembled in China. Like TV dinners for example. That’s probably the real reason the frozen food aisle is empty, but they don’t want to tell people because that will really panic them.

You might try looking in the baking aisle, or going to an ethnic store or other store that sells individual ingredients. Those foods are often produced in the USA. And about Mexican foods, a lot of them are produced by a subsidiary in Los Angeles. Who knows when they’ll be available. There are big food packaging plants in Glendale and other places in LA that small companies rent out by the hour to process their foods. There’s a middle eastern food company called Sadaf that is packaged in Glendale, also I knew of a small Japanese food company packaged out there also.

Next time you buy food, look at the can or bag to see where it’s made. Dry beans and rice packed in bags sometimes get the brown paper bags from Washington state or Vancouver (lumber areas). Who knows if they’re still working. Or how long the stock of bags will hold out.

Winco sells food in bulk out of bins, also 25 and 50 lb sacks of grains and beans. You might have a better chance trying to buy bulk foods. A lot of people won’t buy them because they don’t want to cook.

Also, someone mentioned earlier that they had ants and couldn’t get rid of them. A pest control guy told me to use Windex (ammonia) on ant trails. They can’t smell the trail any more and can’t follow the other ants in. Spray it heavily on the trail and surrounding area, and ideally outside where they enter. You might have to do it a couple times to get the whole trail.

We have dozens of packs of cocktail napkins here at my late MIL’s country house. I’ll be wiping my ass with her monogram soon.

Also, for the ant guy, I believe he said they were coming in through a crack in the bathtub grout. Get DAP KWIK Dry for kitchen and bathtub. Read the directions carefully. It comes in white tubes. You can buy it online at Home Depot or similar. There’s a lot of different kinds of DAP so read the label. There’s probably tutorials on YouTube showing how to apply it. Here’s a link showing the steps to apply it.

The permanent way to get rid of bugs entering is seal up the entry.

Yesterday, I went to Safeway around 9:30 am. The crowds were gone and the store was mostly replenished except for the paper goods, there none, and the bread which was about half stocked. Otherwise it was pretty much back to normal.

R147, was there bleach? Lysol spray? wipes? hand sanitizer? anti-bacterial liquid hand soap? bottled water? (spring water, not "purified" water).

thankfully I can order $100 with of OTC good per month. I have decent health insurance. They have all the stuff we need.

Anyone in Brevard County Fl in need, LMK

Ok, now that you mention it...they had stuff like PineSol, 409 and Mr. Clean, again semi-stocked . The Clorox bleach as well as Clorox products were totally gone. I didn’t look for alcohol or hand sanitizer. The other thing that was only semi-stocked was pet supplies. They some, but not all. I settled for a different brand of cat litter.

There were no gallon bottles of water, but there were small bottles as well as canned waters, like seltzer and club soda. I bought those because I was refilling all my drinking water in my own bottles.

Sorry, r150 is in reply to r148.

I went to Target yesterday in the last hour they were open and aside from the expected aisles cleared out - meat and toilet paper - it was a typical experience. You can knock out a lot of things off your list if you need to at that time.

It is tragic that everyone is stocking up on meat when exploiting and selling animals is how this all started.

r152 even vegetarian/vegan items are going out of stock as desperate folks are turning towards alternatives since teh regular stuff is gone. People are eating Tofu now

"It is tragic that everyone is stocking up on meat when exploiting and selling animals is how this all started."

Oh my God. The logic.

I tried doing an online grocery order (for pickup) at Walmart and found it very frustrating. Today I checked Vons for their pickup situation, and found that it was available but (1) not at either my closest stores, and (2) has the exorbitantly high prices they're noted for. On a whim, I checked Aldi, and found out that they offer free delivery for your first three orders from Instacart -- as well as very low prices. Gonna try them next. Anything to avoid going into the store (I'm a senior and don't want to be around ANYONE.)

[quote]What are people doing with all the paper towels. I don't get the burning urgency behind paper towels.

People are hoarding it to use when their toilet paper runs out.

[quote]What are people doing with all the paper towels. I don't get the burning urgency behind paper towels.

[quote]People are hoarding it to use when their toilet paper runs out.

That was my first thought, as well.

But, I've realized that people are actually obsessively cleaning surfaces every time they enter their homes - counters, doorknobs, sinks and faucets, etc., as well as items they may purchase.

Additionally, if you have someone in your family who is ill, and you have to isolate them, you need paper towels to clean surfaces with which they come in contact.

Yes people are cleaning with them because apparently 95% of the world no longer has a big ol' stack of cotton and linen dish towels, which can be easily washed on hot, and come out sparkling clean.

I have to go to the grocery store again tomorrow because I have been craving some spaghetti bolognese. I'm going to throw a fit if they're out of ground beef.

Good luck. My store has been out for at least four days.

R159 I know what you mean about cravings. I'm craving some chewing gum. And I'm out of worcestershire sauce. I have Coronavirus but not coughing (much) so I too have to get to the grocery store tomorrow.

R145 Don't flush them.

You'll be ankle deep in sewage especially if your flushing kleenex and disinfecting wipes.

How to disinfect coronavirus : including how long it can live on various surfaces in your home or outside.

R17, how’s your Publix now? My local store was out of eggs and ground beef yesterday, and the produce section looked like a tornado ran through it. Bare shelves, empty boxes, a few random apples or onions strewn about. I’ve never seen anything like it. This is not like what we see before a snow storm, and it’s been going on for weeks and getting worse. I walk to my local market daily since work shut down. They’re still getting deliveries, but what’s on the shelves is spotty. Today they had one brand of sliced bread, some off-brand. I try not to panic buy so I just got one loaf, but I think some people are going daily and snatching up everything they see. This is why we had a toilet paper shortage last week.

R163> That article just made me more paranoid (as if that was possible). CV particles can last for 3 hours in the air after someone coughs or sneezes. Well damn, 6 feet doesn’t mean shit then since you are probably walking through invisible CV regardless. Yep! keeping my ass home and taking out garbage at 6am before people wake up.

r165 agreed. WTF it can survive for a sixth of the day on copper. Copper absolutely destroys everything else in less time. Nasty virus

[quote]Yes people are cleaning with them because apparently 95% of the world no longer has a big ol' stack of cotton and linen dish towels, which can be easily washed on hot, and come out sparkling clean.

Yes, because you want a stack of Corona towels lying around before you can do the wash. Maybe they can wash them with the family cloths.

What is this Eastern Europe?

Since around the time I started seriously cooking (age 27 or so), I've always felt most comfortable with a well-stocked pantry and freezer. I also love the challenge of being resourceful. I've got the next four months of meals planned, and none of it is slop. I'm going to do some container vegetable and herb gardening starting at the end of April.

Can I come live with you, R169?

R154 you're not used to logic

I'll never understand the hypocrisy of people who have spent the last several weeks hoarding, but continue to go to grocery stores and places like Wal Mart daily, exposing themselves to the very virus they should be avoiding. You hoarded all your shit already. Stay home. Cook. Watch some TV. Stop going out already!

I was at a Stop&Shop in White Plains, NY on Thursday.It was not busy. They were TOTALLY out of -toilet paper, paper towels, plastic wrap, aluminum foil. Water-only big packs of 500ml bottles. There was PLENTY of fruits and vegetables.

How is it that even with limits, toilet paper is still gone? They must be cheating and using people they know to hoard more.

They must have enough toilet paper stockpiled for a year by now, and they're still going out to get more.

I just did my second online order for Walmart pickup. It's really a crapshoot--while they might indicate that an item is available (and a lot of things are "out of stock"), since there's at least a full day's delay between when you order and when the first available pickup time is (at least in my area), they usually end up cancelling many of the items you've ordered (which were "in stock" when you ordered.) So you have to keep going back and doing new orders on different days. I always thought inventory control was one of Walmart's strong points, but I guess this is a situation they didn't anticipate.

"...a situation they didn't anticipate. " You mean Trump-supporting billionaires were WRONG?

Asshole panic-hoarding Karens will force rationing at the point of a gun soon enough. Of course it will be their stupidity that pushes us into outright totalitarianism. Orwell always said it would be women who take us there.

For perspective, here in Austin after the Houston hurricane, there was a rumor going around that there would be a gas shortage because trucks couldn’t get through, refineries were shut down or something to that effect.

So all of the sudden, local people were running out and getting gassed up and filling every gas can in existence. Despite assurances that there was no gas shortage, and to only get what was necessary, people went out and loaded up on gas anyway, so there were stations out of gas, long lines, and verbal arguments at stations over who was in line first, etc. I actually witnessed a few.

Anyway, we ended up creating a non-existent problem with the “solution”. The same thing is happening with this “gotta get mine” reaction—leaving others empty handed—because the system isn’t set up to provide the insane levels of artificial demand.

Instead of hoarding TP, people should be flooding the internet for demands for Trump to get his saggy orange ass in gear. Until his “ratings” take a huge hit nationally due to inaction and ineptitude he’s going to continue to bumble along.

Then they bring their younguns into the stores with them. Less of this and more hysterectomies mandated along with the neutering of the baby daddies that don't support their kids.

Trump's approval rating went up over the last week. Dismal! As for opinion about his crisis management, it was 45% positive a week ago and it was up, at 55% Friday.

I grew up in the Philippines where people don't use TP.

They literally wash their asses with water. It's how I did until I left for college.

I'm working from home and can return to washing my ass all day if needed.

This is plain Karen frau stupidity this TP crap, pun intended.

I have to collect crickets for my "groceries."

r182 bidets are soaring in sales. They are sold out online

r182 what did people do when they took a dump in a public restroom?

Two quick-n-easy pumps of Spring-n-Renewal Febreze is equally effective as toilet paper for the modern gal or guy on the go, and I don't know why more people aren't doing it.

R180, I don't understand people who still shop as a family. In normal times, suburban supermarkets fill up on the weekends with families - Mom, Dad and a couple or three kids - jamming the aisles, letting their kids run around or scream at the top of their lungs. (Fathers are especially terrible at exercising any control over their children; they are totally oblivious and sometimes even encourage the horsing around.) With both parents working, I guess this is what now passes for quality family time. It's annoying in the moment, but I also recognize that it's price one pays for the otherwise pleasant and convenient experience of living in suburbia.

With the epidemic, though, what are they thinking? Why can't they exercise the common sense to have one parent stay home with the kids while the other shops, minimizing the chance that they get infected. Instead, they all go, increasing the likelihood of spreading the virus and, incidentally, coming down with a nasty, if not lethal to them, respiratory infection.

I had to go to Best Buy to buy some WFH items, my company won't ship additional monitors and such, but I saw a couple of kids running around the store as if everything was normal. One was digging into his teeth with his finger. I just shook my head because Aunt Rona might be making a visit that family's house very soon.

Giant Eagle in northern Ohio giving $10,000,000 in bonuses to employees who work to keep the stores open.

[quote]With the epidemic, though, what are they thinking? Why can't they exercise the common sense to have one parent stay home with the kids while the other shops, minimizing the chance that they get infected. Instead, they all go,

Some adults have such poor coping skills that they can’t be alone out in public.

[quote]Fathers are especially terrible at exercising any control over their children; they are totally oblivious and sometimes even encourage the horsing around.) With both parents working, I guess this is what now passes for quality family time.

The Boomer mothers who raised my generation worked full-time and they were never like this. Our fathers were also attentive and wouldn't let us act up in public. Unfortunately, this kind of shitty parenting is all on my (late Gen X/early Millennial) generation.

When I was growing up in the 70s, we would get an “ass whippin” with a belt strap in my moms purse - in front of everyone - if we misbehaved in public...This led to us being “good kids” for our parents and acting out for everyone else.

Of course parents can’t do that now - if they want to keep their kids^^^

So, parents let their children do what they want.

Sometimes it was fun as kids to go food shopping as a family.

I just visited Trader Joe’s at 4th & Market in San Francisco. Absolutely full shelves with associates emptying full boxes of produce, meat, etc. Limiting the number of people in the store so I had to wait in line. Had guy putting hand sanitizer on everyone going into store (who wanted it). Fair amount of folks in the store but hardly any wait in line (and this store has a Disneyland “chute-style” waiting area for cashiers).

This was the first day where the stores were kinda slow, hopefully people are calming down

R196 but how were your stores stocked?

In my area, the stores are not really a whole lot better. The Safeway had two-gallon jugs of spring water. Wholefoods had lots of produce. People on the NextDoor app shared tips about finding toilet paper at 6, 7, 8 a.m.; at Harris Teeter, CVS, and Target; of course, it was all sold out everywhere again by noon. Safeway had only 5% of it's normal amount of chips.

But the traffic did seem lighter when I went at 4 p.m. Maybe everyone had already gone shopping between 6 and 9 a.m.

How much toilet paper must people have stockpiled by now? Some of them must have hundreds of rolls.

What is a Disneyland chute style waiting area? And how are people getting to that Trader Joe’s? There’s no parking. By Bart and MUNI? Who wants to ride those now? By Uber? Who wants to ride those now?

I was in a shopping center gorging myself by buying a huge submarine sandwich at NJ Mikes Subs. In the same shopping center is a Trader Joe's. The parking lot at that end of the shopping center had a number of empty spots. They were doing social distancing today so only about ten people at a time could enter the store. This was Hartsdale NY today about 5pm. The line to get in was NOT long.

r199

My neighbors have a whole garage full and they're giving some away to people on the street lol.

It's nice that hoarders now get to play savoirs!

*saviors

At this point, I'm trying to avoid shopping as much as possible.

I just fucking hate standing in line.

On line.

You know who feels really self-satisfied right now? Those fucking extreme couponers who have their "stock pile," of 600 rolls of TP, 80 containers of ketchup, and 200 boxes of cereal... which they all got for FREE!

[quote]How much toilet paper must people have stockpiled by now? Some of them must have hundreds of rolls.

I have 32, R199. I usually use the bathroom at work but since we are required to work from home I'm guessing I'll use about 2 a week or 4 months worth.

[quote]How much toilet paper must people have stockpiled by now? Some of them must have hundreds of rolls.

I have 32, R199. I usually use the bathroom at work but since we are required to work from home I'm guessing I'll use about 2 a week or 4 months worth.

32 isn't bad at all, one big pack at Costco has 30 rolls (which for me is almost a year's supply). I'm talking about the people we've seen with multiple 30-packs, and they've made a number of trips to the store. That's just fucking crazy.

R310 A year? I'm blasting through 30 rolls a week.

I'm a guy who lives alone and I usually shit once a day, sometimes twice. I do a tp wipe, then a wet wipe, then another tp wipe to dry. I don't use tp for anything else. one roll will last me for more than a week.

I've been laughing at these threads where DLers are all talking about their toilet paper habits.

I hope youre not flushing those wet wipes!!!

I only use half a wet wipe and of course it's flushed. What am I supposed to do with it, put it in the trash? That is revolting. I've never had any plumbing/septic problems from flushing wipes.

[quote] I've never had any plumbing/septic problems from flushing wipes.

Yet.

Just wait.

I've never really like going grocery shopping. But now I absolutely dread it.

No, r215. Never had any problems in the years I've been here.

[quote]I hope youre not flushing those wet wipes!!!

No, they go straight to the hamper.

Just wait!

Yes, R170

R217 That's really a despicable habit! Only tp goes in the toilet while wipes must go into the waste basket! Any 6th grader knows that! Incredible!

R104 is so concerned about cat food. If they go hungry enough they will eat the food you gave them--stop spoiling them.

r221 most Americans flush wet wipes. Putting shit-covered wipes in the trash is just nasty and filthy.

Lots of people flush baby wipes. I'm afraid between all of the hand washing and newspaper and wipes flushed, we will break the sewers and have no water.

Mexicans put their used tp in the waste basket. They don't flush it down. Gross.

Is it safer to use a human checker or self-checkout at the grocery store?

Neither. I haven’t ever bothered to check out in this mayhem.

Who bothers to check out in a National emergency? No one will stop you. And if they do, cough on them.

Flushing wet wipes is so irresponsible.

My Walmart was out of lots. No protein/meat/eggs at all, even frozen. No butter, PB, cereal but lots of yogurt and cheese. No cookies.

May you live in interesting times....

In Australia we have our elderly only shopping hours and a new priority assist delivery for elderly only as well.

Pays to be old.

Something gays would never have dreamed of until now!

I only need one toilet a month at a guess.

I'll be fine.

I would like to lose 6 pounds anyway and I don't mind the lack of food either.

I finally made it to the grocery today, after holding out for some time. I also stopped at a couple of dollar stores. No toilet paper, anywhere. I was able to buy a few packs of ramen at a dollar store. The only butter available at the grocery was imported, which is what I buy anyway. The grocery store posted limits on meat, chicken, eggs and milk, but I was able to buy some ultra-pasteurized half and half for my coffee. I was very happy to be able to buy some bananas and avocados, but especially.......sweet potatoes, which hold up very well, and are so very easy to prepare. Bread was picked over, but I never buy that anyway. I was able to buy a few packs of English muffins, though.

They do make flushable wipes, people. And look into getting a bidet toilet seat. Cuts way down on the use of TP and wipes.

Someone isn't aware that flushable wipes aren't flushable .

I took a friends advice and went to my local market at 8 am the store opens at 7. I recommend doing this the store wasn't crowded and there were no crazy people loading up their shopping cart with anything within reach. The only downside was that not all the shelves had been restocked yet.

This dip shit bought out the entire meat section of his local grocery store.

What’s up with the Lysol? Everything is being restocked, if only briefly, except for Lysol which seems to not restock at all?

Anybody know what’s up with that?

I’ve been reading about how to freeze vegetables. Potatoes and celery can be frozen if they’re parboiled. Limp celery can be revived by putting it in a bath of ice water for half an hour. There’s a lot of articles on Wikihow explaining how to preserve vegetables so they can be frozen for months.

If you can find fresh vegetables, you can parboil them and freeze them for up to a year. All the vegetables you buy frozen at the store are parboiled first.

We’re all going to end up doing this if these shortages continue, so you may as well learn to do it right.

Here’s how to freeze potatoes. You can’t just put potatoes in the freezer, they’ll be ruined. You have to parboil them like in this article.

What is parboil mean?

I went out first thing this morning. There was a line (at 7:00 A.M.) but only around 15-20 people at Safeway. They had tp, paper towels, bread, soup, etc. There wasn't a lot of selection but they more or less had everything a person could need. I think it is calming down.

A quick (like 2-3 min) boil R242.

This website tells you Ways to preserve and store Veggies/ fruit/ meat

What would boiling for 2 minutes do? The potato would still be raw.

This site/app pulls up recipes for the ingredients you do have in the house. Every day is now an episode of Chopped :/

R242, If you read the article, basically you get a pot of water, boil the water, depending on the size of the vegetable and type, and drop the vegetable in and boil them 3-5 minutes. Use an egg timer.

Usually you cut the vegetable to the size you’ll use it.

Then, you take the vegetable out and immediately put it in a bath of ice water. You usually leave it in there more or less the for the same amount of time as the boiling water.

Then you take it out, put it on a tray with each piece not touching, and freeze it. After it’s frozen, you can put that in a zip lock bag or whatever you want. Put the date on the bag. They’re usually good for 8-12 months.

It’s best to look up the individual vegetable because the times can be different.

If there are food shortages and you can get a lot of fresh vegetables, most freeze well after parboiling and you won’t have to go out as much. Also, you can buy a few bags of carrots or a large bag of potatoes and most people would rather have convenience foods, so you have a better chance of getting what you want.

We’re all going to have to learn to cook, I’m afraid.

R245, the purpose is not to COOK. Per Google:

Blanching helps vegetables keep their vibrant colors and retain nutrients, and stops the enzymes that would otherwise lead to spoilage. Freezing vegetables without blanching them first results in faded or dulled coloring, as well as off flavors and textures.

R245, it’s not meant to cook it, it’s meant to preserve it. You don’t actually want to cook it through and through in a lot of cases, because later when you unfreeze it, you’ll want to cook it more, and you don’t want to overcook it.

Potatoes in particular are starchy, they don’t freeze well without cooking. They could turn black without parboiling. Or the texture could change.

R230 because the dumbest beings of society shop at Walmart

Anybody seen any Lysol out there?

Well?

Put some white vinegar and water in a spray bottle, R251, better for your lungs, anyway.

Shortages of Lysol is not a mystery.

[quote]Limp celery can be revived by putting it in a bath of ice water for half an hour.

Tried this on my dick. I'll stick to Viagra, thank you.

Vinegar doesn’t really clean or disenfect anything. Especially in the air.

Lysol is not to be sprayed in the air, but used to disinfect surfaces. Same as vinegar, or bleach, but safer for the lungs.

Why are you imbecile lining up at mega stores like Walmart, Coctco,Sams Club. In line with hundreds of possibly CV positives. I walk to my little local corner shop. Nobody there The checker has gloves. I bring my own bag and sack up my self. Use my own pen to sign CC. In the mornings I'm usually the only one there. Sure the selection is limited ( they have TP). Sure I pay a bit more but WTF is your life worth?

Open your windows, do not spray chemicals that might harm your lungs while there is a pandemic that is attacking lungs.

If it is not raining where you are, go out for a walk, get sun (vitamin D) and practice social distancing.

If no one in your home is sick, no need to worry about disinfecting surfaces. Ease up on the bleach, the fumes are not good for you or for pets.

It's Spring- start your gardens!

OP Why have people not prepared months ago for an emergency. A couple of dollars each week on tinned goods soon makes fills the store cupboard.

Coronavirus or whatever, each household ought to have at least a month's supply of emergency food.

Agree, R257.

I want to my local farmers market today. Outside. Went early to beat any crowds. It is especially important to support local businesses, esp farmers, who can literally keep us all alive. Sign up for a CSA if you are able. Eat seasonally and locally, better for the planet and it is a sustainable supply chain. Mine sells meat, chicken, pork, eggs, veg, fruit and local honey, along with baked goods.

Even things like frozen organic vegetables (with dubious quality control) at WF come from China. With the environmental degredation in China, do better for yourself.

Plant a garden if you can this spring, if you live in an apartment, get on a list for a community garden plot. Grow microgreens and herbs in a container on a windowsill. Do what you can to become more self sufficient. Learn tips our grandparents and great grandparents knew about food, like how to blanch for longer freezing. Stock up on things on sale, even avocados can be frozen (no blanching needed).

I'm awaiting the email from Walmart to tell me which items in my pickup order for today have been cancelled (or substituted.)

I went to the market this morning at 7am (opening time) to get fresh produce for next week. For the first time I put on my mask. I still have several brand new heavy duty painter's masks that fit tightly. And for the first time I saw lots of people wearing masks, both surgical masks and bandanas over their mouths. I also noticed people clearly scared to death to have to pass by people in the aisles. They were scurrying around like scared rats up against a wall whenever they had to come near people. And this is in a small town grocery.

I've decided to cut my grocery shops to 1 per week at this point. If I give out of something I'll just have to be out until the next week.

You need to donate those masks to hospitals.

I wonder if the grocery stores should start taking appointments, to control crowds. I’m booking delivery of most things and I am trying to order modestly to do my part. But I am also finding I need to order about seven to ten days in advance.

Rumor here in Fl is that the largest chain Publix will soon be delivery only. No one allowed in stores. They will hire up drivers (plenty of unemployed tourism industry workers) You order and pay on your device and they deliver to your door. Publix Eats.

Why would a food store name themselves after pubic hair? Gross and unappetizing. 🤮

I’m not sure the delivery only idea is such a bad idea, but provision will have to be made for the small number of people who don’t have cards.

The store I order from will only allow online payment now for delivery now. No interaction at the door.

I wipe down everything I receive.

Trader Joe's really should shut down. It is utterly an exercise in futility for them to be open.

Some Targets are better than others.

This is all making me appreciate when we had more local/regional stores.

Try to do your shopping early on a weekday if possible. Weekends are just asking for trouble. Since most people get paid on Friday, I've decided I'll just go out on Thursday mornings for the foreseeable future. I'm pretty well stocked on grains and frozen things, bought a Brita filter to avoid buying water...just need to get fresh veg & dairy occasionally.

Can I suggest meal planning too? I just went through my freezer, fridge and covered and I have more than I thought. I’m not looking forward to eating all of it but it’s there. A little less to worry about. When you order, think less about what you want and more about what will last. I have enough rice now to do a series of Survivor and won’t order any more as don’t want to deprive anyone else unnecessarily or stress the system. Again, the planning. That said I also try to order in sufficient quantities to limit delivery strain and contact.

actually, r270, early in the morning is NOT a good time to go. That's when most of the grocery stores where i live are at their busiest during this crisis.

I've done two online Walmart Grocery orders (for pickup - I don't want to go in any stores) and I have never been able to get ground beef, eggs, or sour cream (or salted butter.) Gonna try again (different store) tomorrow. If that fails, it'll be delivery from another store.

I don't know how anyone is able to put in an online order for groceries at any store, for pickup or delivery. Every store around me never has an available time slot to choose and therefore your cart can't go through.

R269 - With Trader Joe's, your shopping success will depend on what store you choose, what you want, and when you go. The last time I went to TJ's was two weeks ago in Brooklyn and I got there by noon on a Sunday. The store had a moderate crowd and I was able to get 90% of what I needed. The shelves were stocked ok, but they were out of soup, chicken, red meat and eggs. 95% of the frozen veggies were gone, but they had plenty of fresh veggies (I know how to freeze them so I stocked up). They also had plenty of salmon & frozen quick meals.

R270 - Great point! Also, avoid the 1st-3rd, 15th and last day of the month.

Early afternoon (around 1pm) on Thursdays has worked best for me. After 3pm, more people start coming out. Before noon, morning shoppers and/or stock is not out yet.

No eggs today at my local market. Not even egg substitutes. I was planning to bake but now I can’t as I have no eggs. This is surreal.

Does someone think we are going to run out of potatoes?

r279 wasn't there already a potato shortage? Now the panic buying. Yikes

Things like potatoes are going to be one of the first things to go when people panic.

Every store in my area, Target, Walmart, Randall's, Kroger, HEB, no paper products or cleaning supplies. Entire sections of other stuff wiped out. National Guard will need to start distributing if these fat housecows don't stop hoarding.

r275 "veggies" huh? You are a very stupid person.

When I go, no toilet paper. What is the matter with people?

vegetables. VEGETABLES!! Vegetables. vej-tuh-buhl / vej-i-tuh-buhl

v̶e̶g̶g̶i̶e̶s̶

v̶e̶g̶g̶i̶e̶s̶

vegetables!

3 or 4 syllables - vegetables. A lovely word.

R279 not as long as we still have our couches.

r274 Walmart lets you reserve a pickup time before you start your order. If there are none available, try another location (if you have more than one in your area.) I had to go to the second-closest location in order to get a pickup time, but I checked again today and my closer location has one pickup time for tomorrow. It's a good idea to check early in the morning.

Also, if you have Aldi near you, they're offering free Instacart delivery on your first three orders.

What I don't understand is why are retards hoarding bananas and milk? They will rott in less than a week.

It's probably best to go when the stores first open in the morning, since they restock overnight. They also clean and disinfect overnight, so everything is "clean" before hundreds of people have touched everything, as is the case later in the day.

White vinegar does not have any known effect on COVID19. Read the CDC website instead of spreading misinformation. 6% hydrogen peroxide does, but the 3% most of us have in our homes needs to stay wet on surfaces for 30 minutes to kill it.

[R120] Many of us live in homes with other people. There is no "just my own germs" when other people go in and out of homes to stores, doctor appts, and in my case, to a high exposure job. My housemate is in the high risk group for dying from this virus and flu. We don't overdo the disinfecting, but it necessary.

Most people overuse bleach and don't need as much as they think to get the job done, but bleach kills a very broad range of pathogens and that is why it's in such high demand.

is it 10 to 1 solution with water and household bleach?

" retards hoarding bananas and milk? They will rott"

At least you spelled hoarding correctly.

It's disappointing to see so many Walmart shills. They gave Drumph millions and are therefore partially responsible or our situation. Idiots and low-rent trash.

Walmart' billionaire owners may soon watch you all die from their private islands.

In a suburban community on the outer limits of a moderately sized city. The Food Lion supermarket was depleted of much, including the usual items people are hoarding. I went there midday and it was disturbing how shoppers were conducting themselves A portion of the shoppers were there with kids of all ages. The store was packed. Many didn't keep sufficient distances from one another. Apparently a lot of older women sent their senior husband's to shop. Only saw one other person with a mask. I got part of what I needed and quickly left.

A lot of people are treating this as vacation and taking it seriously.

^...and NOT take by it seriously.

R289, I've tried everything around me. No time is ever available. I've tried at various hours of the day. There must just be some huge in these parts.

[quote]I don't know how anyone is able to put in an online order for groceries at any store, for pickup or delivery. Every store around me never has an available time slot to choose and therefore your cart can't go through.

I had the same problem with WM, but I checked at exactly midnight Friday morning and had my pick of time slots for Saturday. Checked out at 12:01.

R293, it depends if you are cleaning a food contact surface/item or non food areas. Make sure the bottle says "Kills 99% of Germs" on the label and is unscented- otherwise, it's the diluted "household" bleach sold for laundry. Clorox refused to tell me why they sell the diluted stuff with the same label as the unscented diluted crap.

Food prep areas, dishes: 1 T bleach to 1 gallon water. Keep surface wet for 10 minutes, then air dry. Rinse before preparing food there again.

Changing tables, bathrooms: 1 T to 1 quart water, 1/4 cup to 1 gallon water. Keep wet 10 min, allow to air dry. Rinse before contact with bare skin.

Blood, urine, vomit, or diarhhea: 2 T per 1 quart water, 1/3 cup to 1 gallon water

Toys: soak in 3/4 cup bleach to 1 gallon for 5 minutes. Allow to air dry. Rinse before letting kids handle them again.

T= Tablespoon I use the cap as my T measure.

Thank you very much. I was overdosing my concentrations.

We all do. If you forget and use too much bleach, the areas won't need to stay wet for as long, but will need to be rinsed more thoroughly. The unofficial rule of thumb is that if you can strongly smell the bleach, you added too much.

I use the ratios from our NH.gov>dhhs flyer at work, which is also online. Other sites may recommend stronger or weaker ratios. The CDC recommends stronger ratios for killing mold or disinfecting industrial areas and expects that people will be wearing masks when doing so.

R271, great idea. It also goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway: Go through your fridge and pantry regularly and identify the things that will expire soonest. If you have a dozen eggs that will expire in a few days, well, eggs are very versatile. If you have potatoes, they won’t keep forever. Eat them before you start using up the rice. Use up the tomatoes or cucumbers before you start cooking frozen vegetables.

Think about your freezer capacity. Do you have room for another package of sandwich bread? If not, then you’ll be eating sandwiches and toast for a few days. See above re versatility of eggs … egg salad sandwiches; scrambled eggs on toast, etc. If you have hot dogs or other sausages, remember that you can eat them on regular sliced bread, and they’ll taste the same as if you had them on the usual bun.

This will be an adjustment for some of us, including me. Pre-pandemic, I ate what I wanted, not what I had on hand. I threw food away rather than eat something I wasn’t in the mood for. Those days are gone for now.

R295, this is why we need to change the rules completely.

We don't need "seniors only" shopping times. We need "shopping with others" times. For the rest of the day, it's ONE SHOPPER PER ORDER. Stop people at the door if they're dragging their spouse, friends or kids with them. For those who try to sneak past by entering separately, hire some unemployed security guards to harass people who appear to be shopping in pairs or groups. The bare minimum number of people should be in the store.

For the "but I don't have no one to watch my KEE-IDS" types, then you have a couple of hours where children are allowed in the store with ONE adult.

Family fun time at the supermarket needs to end now and stay ended for the duration.

[quote]Walmart' billionaire owners may soon watch you all die from their private islands.

Walmart is a publicly-traded corporation. It does not have "billionaire owners."

Today at the grocery, a little boy had a child-sized grocery cart and was running up and down all of the aisles yelling at the top of his lungs. It went on for about fifteen minutes until a store manager stopped him and asked where his parents were. The mother came from around the corner and screamed at the manager. "You are scaring my child and you probably just gave him the coronavirus."

Lots of eye rolls all around. It bonded the rest of us.

R304, you're very stupid, even more when you try to seem smart.

Apple, Microsoft and Amazon; billionaire OWNERS, i.e, CEOs, whatever.

You don't seem to understand the concept of corporations. Corporations sell shares. Everyone who owns a share of the corporation is an owner. If you own a mutual fund, you are probably one of those owners. No single person or family owns any of the corporations you mentioned. CEOs are employees, not owners.

(R305) I would have told her, "You're a terrible mother letting your son run amok. Put your cretin on a leash, for God's sake."

And these CEOS are billionaires. Walmart's CEOs are massive stock owners who adore Trump.

And Walmart is a corporation. People should be shopping at independent local grocers and buy books from local independent bookstores online instead of Amazon.

When people do not have the ability to pay mortage/rent, come April 1, they will be fighting over food less. It is possible people have been trying to hoard while they still had access to credit.

Supposedly FEMA has diverted a lot of food, thus creating some issues with supply chain. Make of that what you will.

We're taking this seriously, but not extremely. I silently got some non-perish and indeed, toilet paper in February because I wanted to help myself but not look crazy at home. Now that we're both on board, grocery trips should be going from 1(-2, if new recipes to try) a week, to once every 1.5-2 weeks, though with possibility for quick dips in if I'm on a jog and going to be careful. Won't be hoarding; if there isn't ability to get even simple stocks of food for weeks, we're already in deeper shit. The freezer and shelves are more full than usual, and I may be trying over the next month to push the storage to its limit. Not going out for meals and not ordering delivery (we may succumb occasionally) will actually save a lot of money, just like the saved money for gas. He just has to keep his job and I have to get one - somehow.

Earlier on, I stepped into stores looking for a few things and I immediately nope-d out. Walmart was chaos and mid-tier grocers was very long lineups with people too close. I came later and got some disinfecting wipes from Walmart - supposedly the last one they had in stock at the time, or at least all they'd allow at the moment - and the grocer was much more reasonable, though low or empty on some things. I had to get a smaller bag of flour, or a certain different brand of a thing. I live my life like these sorts of things are going to happen, so I don't have the weird freakouts some have at not getting.... toilet paper? What the hell.

[quote] People should be shopping at independent local grocers

There are entire states without independent local grocers

Well, those are red state Trumpland, so we don't care. Those states allowed corporate chains to kill indies, so fuck them.

Blue states don't have many independent grocers, either. Here in CT it's all chains now.

Right, R314/312.

R313 lives in a bubble. Most suburban areas have no independent grocers, including those that are as blue as blue can be. States did not "allow" this to happen. Deplorables and Trumpsters did not make this happen. Consumers made it happen by their preference for lower prices, greater convenience and a wider selection.

Mergers were often a factor, too, R315. Rarely good for the customers or workers.

Even here in CT Wal Marts are all over the place. And yes, consumers drove that. It wasn't evil Republicans putting mom and pop stores out of business. It was consumers who wanted more choices and cheaper prices. I'm not saying it was right, that's just how it happened.

Re the Washington Post article. People sure are in tight spots. As an aside, I am amazed that a couple, 2 restaurant workers, have: 3 children, a mortgage, and 2 car payments. That must be a tightrope walk every month. Not two professionals. 2 modest restaurant workers.

Apparently Walmart is going to begin senior only hours every Tuesday from 6-7am.

People who have EBT cards can't use them with online orders/delivery so what happens when stores go to just delivery?

I saw a guy twice shoplifting, stuffing items into the pockets of his hoodie. I warned an employee about it, and she just shrugged and said it's awful.

R320 my supermarket (shoprite) allowed for EBT as a payment at checkout for delivery/curbside pick up but we have ebt cards in CT

R257, our local grocery chain, Giant Eagle, is now asking people to *not* bring their own bags, and instead stick to their plastic or paper bags.

Were you there today, r323? I'm thinking of going to the Shadyside Market District today, but might put it off.

Not bringing our own old, nasty bags is a good idea.

I need to venture out this week. We're getting a snowstorm later today and should have 8-10 inches by morning. That should be a good time for me to go, not a lot of people will be out. At least the snow won't last long since it's going to be 50 degrees once it's over.

Can't get a delivery slot on Instacart; can't get a delivery slot at WM; nearest store 2 miles; 4 miles round trip; no car; gout (congenital, before you start shouting). What do I do? I don't even have cake.

r326 - get some meal delivered?

US resident here - I find referring to vegetables as "veg" far more annoying than saying "veggies". It's as equally annoying to me as people (typically from Asian descent) calling for shrimp in a recipe as "shrimps". That's like saying that a recipe for chili calls for a pound of "ground beefs".

[quote]. It's as equally annoying to me as people (typically from Asian descent) calling for shrimp in a recipe as "shrimps".

I have never heard anyone of Asian descent call it shrimps. However, it isn't necessarily incorrect, especially if they're talking about more than one kind.

[quote]Things like potatoes are going to be one of the first things to go when people panic.

"Going to be?" "When?"

Which timeline are you living in?

Ever hear them called “scrimps”?

Still no paper products at my local Safeway in SF (they finally put up a sign limiting the number of paper products per customer), but nearly everything else is in stock. Plenty of fruits/vegetables, dairy, liquor, etc. Soups and stocks a bit thinned out, though. Lines are short. Only one person ahead of/behind me at the post office, too.

I don't understand the paper issue at this point. Yes, I understand it got sold out but I worked for a paper company earlier in my career and each of the 9 mills had warehouse upon warehouse upon warehouse of product all around the country. Where did it all go? The warehouses didn't empty out last week. And anyways, paper companies are still producing aren't they?

I went to the grocery store today for the first time in over a week and it was surreal and depressing. Half the shoppers had on masks or gloves. It was like a bunch of stunned zombies shuffling around.

I wanted to break down and cry once I got in the car, but I'm too shocked to feel anything. I really don't feel anything but fear.

And the fat housecows who've been hoarding tp and paper towels for two weeks now must have enough for an army. They really need to stop.

R334, I was on the verge of tears when I left my store today too. All of the employees are senior citizens or handicapped. They should not have to be dealing with the public every day. Seeing completely empty shelves is also depressing as hell. I feel like I’m in a dream, and hoping I’ll wake up and everything will be back to normal.

It’s like the locusts passed through the supermarkets, stripping them bare.

[quote] Ever hear them called “scrimps”?

Only by southern blacks.

Oh man, I’m drinking citrate of magnesium for my colonoscopy tomorrow & it hit me — toilet paper! I hadn’t even thought of if.

Although most fresh produce is perishable I recommend Walmart fruits and veggies. I bought Walmart plums last month and I can still use them as cue balls today.

I'm going to Walmart tomorrow morning at 6am for senior hour (only over 60s allowed in). Hopefully they'll have some things I need.

Didn't some of you buy things you could eat for a week or 2 or 3? I did.

Print companies need to switch to producing catalogs like the old days so people will have something to wipe with.

I bought 6 boxes of Rice-a-Roni, several each of canned beans, sliced mushrooms, early peas, sliced carrots, sliced potatoes, and diced tomatoes. Add a can of tomatoes and some of the vegetables into the RaR and you'll have a hearty, high protein dish that will feed one for 4 days. Add a side salad or some cole slaw and you're good to go. I may never need to cook any of it, but it's there waiting in case the food situation goes completely to hell.

I would not suggest wiping you arse with anything that has printing ink on it. Many of those inks can end up causing ass cancer.

If you have freezer capacity and like ham, you can buy a spiral-sliced ham. Eat a few meals from it and peel off packs of 8 oz. and freeze them. It's a very good deal per pound/meal, and ham is pretty versatile.

[quote]should have 8-10 inches by morning

Pics please.

[quote]Can't get a delivery slot on Instacart; can't get a delivery slot at WM; nearest store 2 miles; 4 miles round trip; no car; gout (congenital, before you start shouting). What do I do? I don't even have cake.

Take Uber or Lyft to the store.

r348 the fossils of DL don't know how to do that. They don't even have smartphones.

You e got to Check Instacart and Shipt throughout the day to jump on a same day spot when it opens up.

For Shipt, if it says delivery at 8-9 tomorrow, then starts going down to 6-7, etc - keep closing and reloading the app, because they’re adding more drivers during that time and a same day slot will pop up really soon (usually).

Instacart same day flash spots are usually before 1030am, then sometimes after 2pm.

R345 An ass-wipe tie-dyed ascot is a crafty and innovative stocking stuffer idea with a personal touch. Which is what we all need in these uncertain times....

My local supermarket opens at 6 in the morning. I arrived 6:15 and the place was empty. Shelves were fully stocked.

Sliced white bread has no nutritional value, but makes a divine butt wipe in these trying times.

I urinate on everything to disinfect it.

People have stopped buying bottled water (small sizes, not the 5-gallon jugs) in my area. The stores are now over-supplied with water.

I tried to place a Shipt order just out of curiosity and as recently as a week ago I could get my groceries within 2 hours, this weekend it was 6-8 hours, and today it was shut down you can't order and they said they are working to get orders out and weren't taking new orders at this time.

Did the first senior hour at Walmart this morning at 6am. Was able to score a 12 pack of large toilet tissue rolls for $6.61 and some frozen vegetables I was out of. I also noticed the price of gas there went down overnight from $2.24 to $2.05/gallon.

A friend of mine has been live Tweeting about being in line at Walmart for Senior Hour with his mother. He's saying it's awful because he got there an hour before the store opens and the line is already around the building. So Seniors are out standing in the cold for more than an hour at 5am, and nobody is standing 6 ft apart.

r357 I keep saying Im going to get to the store early, but I keep sleeping in!

Went to my local Walmart yesterday in the middle of the day. Hardly anyone in there, very nice and calm. Meat and chicken aisle picked clean, no TP, but got pretty much everything else I needed. plenty of produce, milk, eggs. Didn't check on the pasta. Went to a Greenwise and picked up some Paper Towels and some other goodies. This morning at the local deli, found The Golden Grail: Toilet Paper.

I've done three online grocery orders (for pickup) at Walmart at two different stores. I've been able to get most of what I needed, but still can't get butter (except for the European kind), canned chili, eggs, or cottage cheese. (I don't need paper products so I haven't tried those.) Could only get ground beef in huge packages or in patties. But I've gotten juice, jam, soda, fresh fruit (apples, pears, bananas, nectarines, mango), bread, crackers, sour cream, chips, ice cream, candy, almond milk, whipping cream, frozen vegetables.

One nice thing about Walmart -- if you allow substitutions, they always give you something that is equal or greater in value. I ordered 80/20 ground beef patties, and they gave me 93/7. They gave me name brand substitutions for store brand items I'd ordered. They gave me larger sizes (for the same price) when the smaller was out of stock.

"When all this is over, we're going to remember you Karen"

Fucking Giant didn't have plain Spaghettios, so they replaced them with the meat variety in my online order.

I got a Shipt order same day yesterday, as well as a 5 hour Instacart order, by cling and opening the app regularly.

Got reasonable substitutes on most things. Absolutely no paper products, including napkins, at Harris Teeter. My Safeway is still 24 hours, but I’m afraid to leave the house!

Pray for me. I'm going over then top for...

There's a bunch of those at our corner 7*11, r365. Check the liquor stores/convenience marts.

I hit ALDI in CT today very reluctantly but i fear things are going to get worse here so i went. Arrived at lunchtime with my gloves & no mask. 2/3 of the people were not social distancing the other 1/3 were geared up in masks gloves etc. i had go shoo people away! Do these folks live under a rock? Last time I go out for a while :(

They had lots of meat/produce/ bread/eggs/dairy no TP nor disinfectant, lots of canned goods pasta no Rice though. Not super crowded but about 30 shoppers to avoid.

How the fuck is there no toilet paper in the entire fucking country?

[quote] How the fuck is there no toilet paper in the entire fucking country?

I have a large stockpile of it now, so there’s still some.

r368 the hoarders have bought enough to wipes the asses of an army. They have it all stockpiled.

I found Clorox at Walgreen’s today while picking up my prescriptions.

People out there wearing masks think they keep them safe but they don't prevent COVID from entering their eyes.

[quote] People out there wearing masks think they keep them safe but they don't prevent COVID from entering their eyes.

The only way that happens is if you touch your eyes with your hands that have the virus

My local grocery store is getting most things restocked well, but toilet paper is the big outlier. I haven't seen any.

Thankfully I have enough for the next two months.

R374 which store and what area are you in if you don't mind?

A Stop and Shop in New Jersey r375.

Do people shit more during a crisis?

They might, R377!

Combination of eating more crap food and also being home more. Most people probably take a shit at work and now they have to do it at home!

Anxiety also can trigger IBS. I've had that issue recently.

[quote]How the fuck is there no toilet paper in the entire fucking country?

Because of cunts like this; and fuck Dollar Tree for letting her get away with it:

It amazes me people found it so challenging to shop perhaps 1x a week or god forbid 1x for 2 weeks. Why are so many of you running out on special trips just for dinner rolls or raisins, nail files or sushi rice, paper clips or a bag of frozen peas, etc. ?

I saw that. I don't know how someone didn't kick her ass.

OP & others experiencing shortages, are you finding the shelves are better stocked now? I'm more than adequately prepped, but have found dates for deliveries far into the future. I'm not headed out to forage for food anytime soon, but gave up on some services that only let me know after considerable time shopping online that no delivery is possible with their apps and systems.

I am wishing you all well, and if you were my neighbours, (and were nice) I would gladly share with you. I have seen some preppers online stressing rationing of supplies, and I do think we all ought to be more conscious of what a real or proper portion/serving is.

We don't need to ration r383, there is no food shortage. There was a temporary shortage on shelves due to excessive hoarding behavior by shoppers.

About the hoarding, if people are hoarding out of fear, how do you think they’re going to feel after Trump encourages Deplorables to go to church and other crowded places and the numbers of infected start going back up again? If people listen to him, there will be a whole new wave of infection, worse than ever.

I'm going to need batteries and lightbulbs. Forgot about those and I'm low. We're expecting storms around here with power outages, etc. I'll also need eggs and milk at some point. But everything else is fine for now. I have frozen vegetables. I wanted to buy them at my supermarket but they were out of frozen vegetables, so I ended up at Costco. I have pasta, beans, brown rice, and about 4 lbs of Oatmeal. I also got a few cake mixes. Every now and then I have a sweet tooth.

BTW: I'd strongly advise everyone to get a battery operated radio. Yes, the old fashion kind. I also have a phone charger in my car. Make sure you have enough gasoline and make sure you go out and start your car so the battery doesn't run down. Also check your tires. Standing around they leak and get low.

A battery operated radio is a must. Every household should have one.

This isn't a zombie apocalypse you Marys. The corona virus isn't going to take out the worlds electricity and internet.

R388 well 3 weeks ago, I don't think many would expect US cities/states would be shut down, look what happened!

I just checked my local electronics chain online for radios. There are about 300! What kind of radio is good? Is there some feature I should look for?

I do wonder if this isn't the perfect time for a cyber attack on power grids?

r390 Umm sony?

Here is the list of my own survival kit, I actually posted this in January just for "fun", but it looks more and more like reality now

Non perishable food, energy bars, instant coffee...

Water

Water filter straws

First aid/medication

Personal hygiene kit

Blanket, bodywarmer and heat packs

Cooler and ice packs

Life vest

Batteries and power banks

Power generator

Flashlight and headlamps

Solar powered flashlight and power banks

Toolbox, hammer and axe

FM/AM/Emergency radio

Walkie talkies

Smart phones and Nokia phones

eTrex GPS

I work at a grocery store, never thought i'd be on the front lines of "war", and also the best job security in a recession. People are thanking me for my service.

R390 mine is Eton crank radio FM/AM/Weather with flash light

I live in Europe everything is DAB+. Do I have to looks specifically for FM AM "weather". I remember radios when I was a kid. You could switch between systems - it was fun.

I hate doing it now. The stores are always so damn busy. One store has that black/yellow hazard tape in front of the check-out to keep people apart, so the front of the store is a mess. I heard another one in my area has put up plastic barriers between the cashier and the card reader.

Thanks that ETON looks crappy but fun and useful.

R384, Welll, I'm glad of the fact you do not need to, however I think it's good practise to be frugal. For me, and many others like me who do not relish the idea of venturing out, we are at the mercy of our stocked provisions, and the delivery schedules.

If even Amazon is a month, or a month and a week until the next available slot, (even for Prime membership) rationing a bit is preferable to running out completely. Perhaps it's my mindset, as a wilderness explorer/backpacker, and someone who has spent much longer at sea than originally planned on more than one occasion! Experience causes this to kick in as an instinct.

It won’t matter if a store has toilet paper or not if they get shut down because one of the employees died.

[quote]I'm going to need batteries and lightbulbs. Forgot about those and I'm low. We're expecting storms around here with power outages, etc. I'll also need eggs and milk at some point.

You can order batteries and lightbulbs online, and you mean you’ll want, not need, eggs and milk.

I live in Northern CA where we evacuated from wildfires (The Tubbs fire among others) in Oct 17 and over 5,000 homes were lost in my county, then we had a flood where people lost homes and businesses in early spring 2019, then my entire town was evacuated for a week, along with about 200,000 people county-wide due to the Kincaid fire in Oct 2019, with no electricity for two weeks, and now this. Plus, we have a craven idiot in the white house.

Once you've been through some serious crap it almost gets easier the next time. The second evacuation went much smoother than the first. For me, sheltering in place hasn't been so bad. But, I'm retired and not dependent on income from a job. During the Tubbs fire some people lost homes AND jobs, then during the flood, some who lost businesses had lost homes in the fires.

I really feel for people who have the coronavirus and for those in economic distress. I wonder if life will ever get back to normal.

Where I live the big supermarkets have the opening hour for seniors and pensioners, which I am one of, though I have seen others allowed in. One young woman with 3 kids in tow convinced the security gate to let her in and there are senior-types with what I assume are carers, but when these carers number three or four it seems suspicious. I stand back from the throng when the market I mostly use first opens but miss the announcement made by the guard. I assume he is saying what items are out or limited and asking customers to present their proof of ID cards.

For those who live alone or with one person you can make a cake but just bake it in a small pan. Yes. some batter gets wasted but then you don’t have to feel guilty for eating a full sized cake.

Or you can use half the cake mix and half the ingredients if you use a small enough pan.

Or you could just make the full cake and freeze the other half.

Oh for crying out loud. How big is a cake mix cake?

[quote]For those who live alone or with one person you can make a cake but just bake it in a small pan. Yes. some batter gets wasted but then you don’t have to feel guilty for eating a full sized cake.

But this would reduce the rejoicing of fat whores in what are troubling times.

R394 I thanked my cashier at ALDI yesterday. She looked terrified And it’s because people are messy germy cunts that don’t know how to distance.

[quote] There was a temporary shortage on shelves due to excessive hoarding behavior by shoppers.

There IS, not was, a shortage. I don't know here you live but out here in CA empty shelves are still very much a thing.

Same where I am, R409. Still no TP, anything remotely connected to a disinfectant, ground beef, eggs, butter, flour, rice, very low supplies of canned goods, etc. Saying "it's temporary" is fine and dandy but when all is said and done, everything is temporary, isn't it? Still a problem when temporary food shortages stretch on for weeks.

You Americans and your toilet paper obsession. Do you eat that god damn thing

For the people above who are using half a box of cake mix for some reason: make the whole thing and pour half of the batter into a Tupperware type container, cover, and freeze. Next time you want half a cake, thaw this in the refrigerator just enough to stir, pour into a greased cake pan (or muffin tins lined with paper cupcake cups) and bake per pkg directions.

I hope Dollar Tree corporate saw that video and fired the manager responsible to allowing that to happen.

Some people are going to mentally snap soon, and I fear it won’t be long before we hear about a mass shooter taking out a grocery store.

I just did my first Instacart order with Aldi. No delivery slots available until Monday, but that's fine. I just hope they have most of the things I've ordered by the time they start shopping. (I tried ordering the things I've been unsuccessful in getting from Walmart's grocery pickup service: eggs, butter, cottage cheese, etc.) Free delivery (first three are free with a code), but there's an Instacart service fee and the delivery person's tip. But Aldi's prices are so much lower than the other places that deliver that it's worth it.

R411 people are also tocking up on toilet paper creating a shortage in Europe

Went Walmart a couple of hours ago for the first time in two weeks. It was honestly the best shopping experience I've had there, ever. No crowds, no lines. The store was the most organized and clean as I've ever seen it. Everything is neat and in place. I saw staff sanitizing registers with gloves and masks on. They are definitely benefiting from being closed earlier. No paper towels or TP but I dont need any right now. Everything else I wanted is in stock.

There's still empty aisles here at local stores like Target and Walmart. All home delivery windows are booked unless you get on early in the morning to book for a day or two later. Cheese, butter, eggs, meat, frozen foods, paper products, all wiped out.

Where are people storing all this shit? It's been WEEKS now of this.

Went today and there were actually people stopped and chatting in the aisles. .I was not diplomatic.

I am told CVS/Walgreens/Rite Aid is a good source for toilet tissue.

I scored a twelve pack of Scott's toliet paper at Walmart this morning. Bounty paper towels, too.

R421, Which state?

I went to one grocery store yesterday and it was overrun by a bunch of Instacart/ Shipt zombies blocking the aisle with their carts and staring slack jawed at empty shelves and then their phone and then the shelves. This store didnt have eggs so stopped by another store close by. When I was doing self check out, the store manager was standing there taking a call from a Karen who was complaining that an Instacart zombie made a "unauthorized substitution" on an order from that store. Somehow Karen thought he was the Istacart police. He was nice. I think he was high, though.

Calling the manager because of an "unauthorized substitution." What an entitled cunt.

R418, it has been 2 weeks today since Trump's state of emergency speech. I do imagine a lot of the fresh meat and produce will end up in the trash, unfortunately. A friend asked yesterday when this was going to end, and I said, "When people run out of money."

Are there better days for grocery stores to be stocked?

My grocery stores have pick up/delivery options that are four days out, but of course there's no way of telling if they'll have stock of what you're requesting. Just wondering if there are better days than others. One of my stores has a time slot available for Sunday morning, but is it better to wait until they have a Monday or Tuesday delivery available to make sure they have more of the items I'm requesting?

R417, where are you located, if you don't mind saying?

It would be helpful if reports from the front lines would give at least a state or metro area, if people are willing to say. Aside from helping locals, it would also give a sense of whether the shortages are regional or random.

Grocery restock overnight r426. Go as early as you can if you want the best selection, if you go in the evening you are screwing yourself over.

Had a dr appointment with a pulmonologist that was made in late January. Showed up today - a good 1/2 drive from my house - locked doors. Nobody ever called me & cancelled. My GI guy’s office is still open. I was supposed to have a colonoscopy yesterday, but had hypernatremia from the prep, so never made it. I called & cancelled because I’m not a social boob, like the people in the pulmonologist’s office are.

I figured I might as well go to Target. It was strange - they have taken aisles of shelving out of the store. Also the letters TARGET were taken off the front of the building.

I went to a Jewel-Osco in Chicago today and they had everything except lysol, disinfectants, and hand sanitizer. Plenty of paper towels and TP, they even had bleach which was what I needed. I think it's better to go during the week than on weekends, I tried a Target on Saturday and they were out of everything, not even hand soap.

Target had no acetaminophen, thermometers or hand sanitizers. People were jammed up in the hand soap aisle, looking at antibacterial hand soap but I just grabbed a bottle of plain target hand soap. I stopped at a Rite Aid but no thermometers or acetaminophen. I gave up & went home.

Sobering video about making sure your food is disinfected of Possible corona virus

I went to the closest supermarket to get things and they had changed their openings hours overnight. WTF. Before they would open at 7AM which was really good for me but now they open at 11AM. They say this is to focus more staff on home deliveries. But I say I thought you wanted to make this situation easier not harder. Not wanting to wait 3 hours I went home but tomorrow I am going to their competitor. It is further away but they open at 8AM.

[quote]Had a dr appointment with a pulmonologist that was made in late January. Showed up today - a good 1/2 drive from my house - locked doors. Nobody ever called me & cancelled.

This happened to my mother when she had a doctor's appointment last week. The office was closed when she showed up, and not one asshole who worked there could've been bothered to send her a quick text or make a quick phone call. That's inexcusable.

I’m not going back to the pulmonologist. I’m done with people who behave like that. Besides, he diagnosed me with emphysema when I now believe I had the coronavirus. I got in in Nov thru mid December. Coughed like crazy, my chest hurt & I was frighteningly short of breath. He gave me an RX for a very expensive inhaler. I used it for 2 months & it helped. But I don’t think I need it. I think I have damage to my lungs from this thing, but nothing like when I was suffering from it. I haven’t used the inhaler for weeks & have not coughed once & haven’t got any shortness of breath.

That's weird R429, I was at Target last night and same here....shelves were moved around/missing in part of the store and the Target sign was not even on the front of the store. They were better stocked than a week ago but it was hit or miss. Zero toilet paper, hand sanitizer, rubbing alcohol, very few canned goods but lots of frozen goods and a few rolls of paper towels. I didn't need any but noticed there was no Tylenol but Ibuprofen was abundant (probably because there was some media article last week about 1 patient who took Ibuprofen and later was seriously ill with coronavirus so now everyone thinks it's poison).

Why weren’t the Target signs on the stores?

Are they shutting down or being turned into hospitals or something??

Target and Kroger are putting up sneeze guards at checkout stations to protect the checkout people.

Supposedly, they're also being more stringent in enforcing the 6' distance rule. I'm not sure how that works, unless they have someone walking around with a cane hitting people who are too close together.

A gallon on milk in a Des Moines, Iowa Walmart was $4.12 normally it is closer $2. I can only imagine what it is in a real city!

What city are you in, R436 & R429?

There's a target near the downtown business district where all the high rise offices buildings are. I live about a half mile away. I went to that target at 8:30 am and I got tylenol and toilet paper. Hydrogen peroxide too. The store was practically empty.

I can't find Alcohol, garlic, yeast or eggs. I went to three stores and all three are out of them all. I might have to get that liquid egg stuff at Costco. Are those real eggs?

R421, I would commit a misdemeanor for a 12-pack of Scott's 1,000 sheets toilet paper.

R442, Go to a liquor store.

Kroger lets you order online, gives you a pick up time several days in advance, then tells you items you ordered are out of stock when you arrive at the appointment to pick the up.

What is the point of ordering online several days in advance if they're just going to sell what you ordered before they allow you to pick them up?

Kroger is dead to me.

The 'wash all your grocery containers' skeeved me out!

R440, I'm in Long Beach CA. Interesting strategy R441.

The sneeze guards to protect the employees is a great idea. Lots of stores in my area have little lines of tape all over the floor to indicate the 6 foot distances. Mostly in the areas closest to the checkout.

R436, I live in a different state and I’m finding the same thing. Go to the stores in the business district or industrial district.

I risked my life and entered the wild infected wetlands of Costco tonight unaccompanied and I made it through!

I went to the Burbank location one hour and twenty minutes BEFORE the store opened this morning, and there were over two hundred people already in line. Didn't do that.

Ventured out to the one in Azusa at 7pm, and didn't have to wait to get in or wait to check out. There were probably an equal amount of employees as customers at that time, and they seemed eager to close on time and get out there..

R450, this thread is dedicated to you.

R450 were you able to get?

R450 were you able to get?

*what were you able to get

[quote]Ventured out to the one in Azusa at 7pm

Then you must've gone right past my house. Next time stop in ... but stay 6 feet away.

A lot of Targets are remodeling their stores -- has nothing to do with the virus, just a coincidence. The one closest to me did the remodel thing a few months ago, the other two within a short driving distance are now right in the middle of that process (moving shelves around so it's not so square, different sign/look out front, etc).

My mother went this morning at 7 which is the special time for seniors, she said they wiped down your cart for you and she even found toilet paper which has been impossible to find the last 2 weeks. She said they were watching when you came in so hopefully younger people won't try to go then.

You know what Target is doing during its remodel? It’s turning off at least 25% of the lighting. Walmart dimmed it’s lights years ago, probably because warehouse businesses like Costco don’t need much lighting. Our Walmart was in a former Caldor’s with plenty of lighting and wide aisles. Well, that was too good for Walmart shoppers. They shuttered the old Costco & built a super Walmart with narrow, annoying aisles & about half the lighting. There was a Walmart in the town where my husband works and it was built in the 1990s. I was glad to go to it instead of the “super” Walmart .....until one dat I walked in & saw they had opened their ceiling up, taken out many of the lights ......and left the ceiling open,...too cheap to pay to have it closed up again. I hate Walmart.

I’m going to hate Target, too.

Went to Trader Joe’s by Fisherman’s Wharf in SF yesterday. Wasn't too crowded at 10am and the shelves were packed with food. Only thing in low supply was the 99 cent pasta (Only a single shelf empty), but otherwise the associates were busy unpacking LOTS of boxes and restocking shelves.

By 11am it was getting a little too crowded for my comfort. No attempts to hold crowds back like the TJs at 4th and Market in SF. They had a line outside to get in and associates were busy cleaning carts and spritz hand sanitizer on everyone’s hands.

R452 They had everything except Kirkland paper products (toilet paper/paper towels), which I expected at that time. There was a sign outside listing they were out of it, but everything else was stocked and normal.

Does anyone know of a small magnesium tablet? My doctor told me to take magnesium but I can’t get the pills down & keep sputtering them up like a Bowery bum

WTF How much TP do women shove up there?

^^I had female roommates when I was younger and they went through an insane amount of toilet paper. I couldn't believe it. I was like "are you bitches EATING it, or what?

I was in Target around noon they had plenty of TP and paper towels but no disinfectant wipes.

Went to Sam's today and it was unbelievable. I got there about 20 minutes before they opened and the line wasn't that long, maybe 20 people deep. I don't know why this shocked me though but nobody was maintaining any distance from each other. I stood back from the person in front of me about 10 feet however the person behind me kept crowding my space. I finally asked them to stop moving closer to me and they rolled their eyes at me.

People in line were coughing and sneezing without covering their mouths.

Inside the store, people were acting like it was social hour. Again, not maintaining any distance, shopping as though it was a normal day, socializing with one another, and a few people, Seniors, were shaking hands with each other.

I honestly don't understand people. These people are hoarding because they know there's an emergency situation but they don't bother to follow any of the other guidelines. It's fucking bizarre.

What this Corona Virus needs is Nan! Gurl knew how to state a boundary!

R455 if I'd seen your post sooner, I would have dropped off an Asiago cheese bagel or double chocolate muffin right from the packaging at a nearby cross street.

I reactivated my subscription to HelloFresh. They are still charging me the original rate, $59 for 3 meals that serve 2 people each.

So, at least 3 nights a week we can have a decent meal. The other nights I'm fine with soft boiled eggs on toast or a baked potato. I'm not that picky. I'm saving the oatmeal for when we get deep into the depression.

Recipe for InstantPot soft boiled eggs: Put your eggs on the trivet with 2 cups of water. Set the timer for 1 minute on low. Immediately quick-release pressure and place the eggs into ice water for a few seconds. I serve mine in egg cups and scoop the inside out onto the plate. Lots of salt. Serve with toast.

We are heading for a depression, Y'all. a baked potato, a bowl of oatmeal. This is the future.

R468 do you have an Air Fryer? Soft boiled eggs in an Air Fryer are even better than the IP.

R468 do you have an Air Fryer? Soft boiled eggs in an Air Fryer are even better than the IP.

In the USA In shops like WalMart and Target - you may buy anything in the store? In Europe only groceries and essentials. Other aisles are shrink wrapped.

The whole stores are open R471, at least in my area as of Monday night.

Ah ha. Thanks. It doesn't seem fair Target can sell clothes but Old Navy cannot?

I had my groceries delivered to my front porch and the delivery guys car didn’t start when he tried to leave. He’s sitting in his car in front of my house as I type this.

You owe him a blow job of thanks and gratitude.

Life is not always fair R473

R93, She should have had coupons!

A lot of stores in Italy are required to block aisles with products that aren't essential.

R469, A pot of boiling water and some white vinegar works just fine.

Have Sears and JC Penny gone for good now?

Open, r471. I bought wine in one, even though our state wine and liquor stores are shut down by decree.

Well I guess that's Cowboy America. Everything is very strictly regimented in Europe.

Are people driving over state lines to the "Wild West" states (everything open), to shop at the mall, and patronize floozies in "saloons"?

R469 I do not have an air fryer, maybe someday though. I'll check it out.

Europe is an over regulated shit hole.

Many grumblings in France that Macron is being too zealous with the power grabs.

R484 you might like an Air Sauteer instead.

[quote]Everything is very strictly regimented in Europe.

Well, you've always loved your fascists and dictators, so it's working out well for you.

[quote]Ventured out to the one in Azusa at 7pm

Sigh...first time out in 6 days (needed milk and bread - grabbed Thai and wine too👍). Went to the local gourmet store (no large supermarkets!). Everyone was following the rules with 3 people in the store at a time, spaced out line outside, plastic gloves upon store entry. However, there was a homeless guy outside who kept trying to talk to people in line - oblivious to space and way too many people outside! At least the store had what I wanted. Next week, I will go out early morning when the store opens before everyone comes out. 1pm does not work anymore.

I just completed another futile trip to my local Kroger. I went looking for 20 items and I was able to buy four of them. They brag about it being the biggest store in the state. An employee told me the shelves would be stocked again overnight. She cautioned me to shop early Friday morning, because they are not planning to stock any of the shelves over the weekend.

I went to a smaller Kroger five miles away and they had most everything I wanted except toilet paper and paper towels. Kroger is planning to tear down this store to build a bigger one the same size as the one above.

I don't understand the decisions Kroger makes. They really don't want me to shop there.

I can't believe that an entire country can be out of fucking toilet paper.

This store in PA had to throw out $35,000 worth of food after a crazed woman intentionally coughed and spit on it...

There has probably never been a time in our lives when a store closed for the day and there still wasn't toilet paper on the shelves. It's not like there's been an increase in population in the last couple weeks. No one has ever had to live without it, or not expect it to be easy to find.

For stores to still run out of toilet paper every single day as a normal thing is obvious that people are still hoarding it.

Yes, they're definitely hoarding it. Some people must have more stocked up in their homes than you would normally find in a grocery store by now. Hand sanitizer, too. It's the hoarders who are ruining it for everybody.

There has to be a supply chain problem with the toilet paper. I haven't seen it on any store shelf anywhere in my city at any time in the last few weeks.

Is toilet paper manufactured 12 months a year?

Toilet paper is traditionally harvested in late August/September, when it is placed in oak barrels for 4-5 months to age. After that it is flailed with hickory whisks in the southern Bavarian village of Ost Strussel and dried in the sun for a period of at least 2 months. Seasonal workers from Estonia then gather the dried fibers which are wound upon spools and shipped to various processing plants around the world. World supplies are determined by a consortium termed "Big Toilet Paper" which has offices in Alexandria, Va. and Ostend. Any break in this procedure leads to massive disruptions of distribution which takes years to correct.

R498, thanks for explaining the current dilemma. I couldn’t understand how the disappearance of all toilet paper from America could have happened until your post.

This does not bode well for the upcoming spaghetti harvest. I fear we may have a pasta shortage soon! Time to start hoarding your macaroni!

Are they still exporting the real parmigiana reggiano cheese out of Italy? I'm getting low.

Be sure to check each egg for freshness in the cartons you have. I was ready to throw out some eggs that had an expired expiration date on the carton.

When I checked each egg in the carton, most of the eggs were still OK. I had eggs from 2 different brands. And surprisingly, the eggs that had the oldest date were all fresh and among those in the slightly newer dated carton, 3 were no longer good.

These days, it pays to check each egg you have.

There are several videos on youtube showing how to test eggs, and although this woman is kind of hokey and the video a bit long, I found her description of what was "fresh" or "bad", but also which eggs while not completely fresh were still OK to eat to be the most informative.

And yes, it was some of those "still OK to eat" eggs I used that night for scrambled eggs. And yes, they were fine.

Don't just throw out eggs past the date on the carton without checking their freshness.

I have 12 eggs in my refrigerator that expired on Feb 22. I'm throwing them out.

I went to Fairway today and it was practically empty. Going inside and seeing the food prices immediately explained why. $8 for bacon. $20 a pound of steak. $20 a pound for shrimp. That's not to mention that all the chicken products, except drumsticks, were completely sold out. Prices for everything in the store were jacked up by at least double. It was amazing to me that they were allowed to price gorge like that. I mean, I paid the inflated prices to avoid getting the coronavirus for myself and my parents who I went shopping for, but man that was outrageous.

A notably funny thing at the store, though, was that there was no line at the deli, cheese counter, butcher, bakery or seafood department. Want to know why? The employees there wore no face masks [italic] or [/italic] gloves. Are they serious with that shit? No wonder their stock was full and no one was ordering from them. How you can operate those departments in a pandemic without your employees wearing proper safety equipment is abhorrent.

I heard it on NPR last week, the sales of bidet in USA are soaring as the TP shortage continues

You'd be surprised how long past the expiration eggs can go.

Cartons either have a sell by or use by date and eggs typically retain around 80% of their freshness from EITHER date for 4-5 weeks.

^If they've been refrigerated.

[quote] No wonder their stock was full and no one was ordering from them. How you can operate those departments in a pandemic without your employees wearing proper safety equipment is abhorrent.

R504 well I don't think that's the real reason why no one ordering from them, as you said "$8 for bacon. $20 a pound of steak. $20 a pound for shrimp", who can afford anything in their store?

R485 Trumplandia is the dumpster fire of the world.

R509 But even presuming the prices were more reasonable, would you let one of their store employee's touch your meat or bread with their bare hands? That would turn me away no matter what store I was shopping at.

Is the toilet paper shortage actually a conspiracy being masterminded by the bidet companies?

Once this thing has started to die down and stock levels return to normal it'll be interesting to see how many mooks attempt to bring back tons of paper products for a refund.

R505 I bought a $40 bidet from amazon in June after seeing that a friend had them in his house and he loved his. I just thought it was a great idea for tidiness and seriously while I was pleased with it, it is now the winner of my best purchase of the past five years. If you can get one, do, it was easy to install Without a plumber and I don’t mind the cold water aspect. If I run out of TP I will be ok.

R505 I bought a $40 bidet from amazon in June after seeing that a friend had them in his house and he loved his. I just thought it was a great idea for tidiness and seriously while I was pleased with it, it is now the winner of my best purchase of the past five years. If you can get one, do, it was easy to install Without a plumber and I don’t mind the cold water aspect. If I run out of TP I will be ok.

You need to think strategically and maybe inconvenience yourself, by traveling out of your comfort zone, for now, I think. Like if you're city is locked down and most people are working from home, don't go to stores in neighborhoods or where there's dense residential population. See if you can find stores that are near business districts which are mostly empty.

One more thing: Don't go to the store until Tuesday or Wednesday. They restock.

There's plenty of toilet paper in all of the supermarkets here in Norway. Few items are sold out. I think we're managing fine, under the circumstances.

Just did a grocery pickup order and the whole thing was a nightmare. You can't pick up or get grocery delivery for a week from any store in town. Then by the time your scheduled day arrives they're out of everything you ordered and you end up with a six pack of turkey wieners and a gallon of apple cider and nothing else, while the people who went into the store with 500 others and didn't practice social distancing at all leave with full carts, because shoppers going into stores get priority.

Then places like Walmart and Target have completely cancelled order ahead and pick up, literally forcing you to come into the store to get most of the stuff you need, which is infuriating.

Why basically force large groups to congregate in closed spaces during a pandemic? For fuck's sake.

R513, It's already happening. Hoarders attempting to return toilet paper, paper towels and even bottled water to COSTCO are being told "Sorry, no returns accepted".

People are fucking cunts.

I got back from the store a little while ago. They open at 700A and I got there at 645 A and there wasn't much of a line. Maybe about 10 people. I get in line and stand the appropriate distance apart from the person in front of me and the people behind me do not. The people behind me are some of the frau-iest fucking cunts you'll ever come across, here's why.

I didn't realize that they have special Senior time, which is from 700 - 730A. I thought they only did that Tues and Thurs, but apparently it's everyday, fine. So they ask us to move in to two different lines, one for Seniors, one for not Seniors. We move against the wall and the bitch behind me, of course dragging her 10 year old kid with her and her 25 year old daughter, They, like everyone else, crowd around each other, with less than 2 feet apart.

While theyre in line mother and daughter are talking about how much they need to grab. Apparently they're all going to grab 2 packages of TP, so total of 6. They then talk about how on Monday, they got 4 36-packs of TP at Costco, 3 36-packs at Sam's on Tuesday, 4 12-packs at Walmart yesterday, and after this run, they'll try CVS and then Target tomorrow! And they're laughing at how much toilet paper they have now.

Cut to some of the Seniors walking out of the store with literally only 1 6-pack of TP, that's all they needed and mother and daughter are laughing about it saying, "Why would you waste your time going out and getting just one package?"

Because they actually need it and were desperate you fucking twats.

Meanwhile, the 25 year old is fucking coughing and not covering her fucking mouth. At this point Im kind of pushed out of the line so I can get some fucking distance, which is still only about 3 feet apart from everyone and the mother taps me on the shoulder (I had my back turned towards them) and says, "Are you in line, because if youre in line youd better move into it because if you dont I will run you over with my cart when we try to go inside. I'm just letting you know now."

I had to tell her that no I would not move into the line where there would be less than a foot space between everyone and that I was trying to social distance which apparently none of them were. I then said I will move into the line when they let us in. She made some comment to her daughter that I was ridiculous.

They start to let us in and sure enough her fucking younger kid goes running in to the store around everyone else so he can be first.

People are cunts.

I don't know why grocery stores haven't moved to delivery or pick up only. It seems smarter so that they can lower the risk of infection.

What's going to happen when all these cashiers get sick and have to call out? No one is going to be available to work the store so they, and everyone else will be screwed. Seems smarter to implement something which would have a greater likelihood of keeping people from getting sick.

[quote]I don't know why grocery stores haven't moved to delivery or pick up only.

Easy. Not enough employees. I've been trying to place an order at WFM for two days now, only to get the "No delivery windows available. New windows are released throughout the day" memo. Only there are never any new windows. But they run out of half the stuff I want throughout the day, often rendering part of the other half unneeded, unwanted.

No one is buying or installing without a plumber a BIDET. What you are installing are either bidet toilet seats, or handheld hoses. A bidet is a completely separate fixture.

[quote]Easy. Not enough employees.

Yeah, it just seems like it would be easier for them to keep the employees they have and/or hire more employees to shop and manage pickup than it will be when they lose the few check out people they have because they all end up sick and they have to close the store.

R521, Really? Were you taking notes of their conversation? I couldn't remember those shopping-list details if it were mine....

[quote]The people behind me are some of the frau-iest fucking cunts you'll ever come across, here's why.

Under normal circumstances I do my grocery shopping after 8pm, because to be quite frank, at that time I don't have to deal with lots of women in the grocery store. There, I said it. After 8pm, it's usually younger men shopping alone. Of course, due to current circumstances and supply shortages I've been going in the morning and yes it's been hell. The stores are full of fraus, Karens and Yoga Moms and I'm constantly reminded why I hate grocery shopping during the day.

A few days ago I went to a grocery store that had a one item limit on toilet paper. As I was taking one off the shelf, the one next to it fell on the floor so I picked it up to put back on the shelf. As I had both tp packages in my hands, a fat frau behind me SCREAMED at me "there's a limit of only one!" I explained the other roll dropped on the floor and I was just putting it back on the shelf. The fat frau snorted and said "likely story!" I just rolled my eyes and left the aisle. I wasn't going to get in a fight in the grocery store, how trashy.

But yeah, people are being real cunts.

Really, r526. If I were as fired up as r521 appears to have been, you bet your sweet ass I'd remember those details.NO

R526 if you can't remember conversations you've heard, especially when it was recent and about something that exhibited such gross behavior... you should probably be concerned.

R529, All the "3x" this and "3x" that? Yeah, sure. Don't get me started on that "or I'll run you over" bit.

R530, apparently not only is your memory weak, but you never got out much when you could.

I placed an order for delivery last night. The earliest available delivery slot was 1 p.m. Sunday. The only canned goods I wanted that were available were tomatoes with serrano peppers (Ro-Tel). The refried beans I wanted, black tea, green tea, honey, rice, dry spaghetti were all out. I was able to order fresh fruit and vegetable and a chuck roast. My favorite potato chips and yogurt available, but the frozen foods were also wiped out. My favorite Gatorade flavor was all out as well. No toilet paper or disinfecting wipes. I'm in pretty good shape thanks to Datalounge panicking me early on. I'm bummed that I might run out of good tea, but I have some Lipton's somewhere to tide me over.

When I hear some asinine conversation in line at a store, I tend to remember it too.

[quote]I'm bummed that I might run out of good tea, but I have some Lipton's somewhere to tide me over.

PG Tips tea is better than Lipton, most grocery stores have it.

I tend to remember the moronic things I hear too.

I get wanting to be prepared but continuing to build a fort of toilet paper at this point seems mentally ill.

Are you supposed to tip for the grocery deliveries? How much?

R536 my grocery store says that tips aren't accepted by their delivery people, that's for home or curbside delivery, however that was probably their policy prior to what's going on now.

I would probably still tip at least $5 and up, depending on how large your order is.

PG Tips is for tradesmen and laborers.

If you're down to grocery store brands of tea as your only option, then PG Tips is the best in that category. Of course, many Dataloungers would have you believe they live like the Queen Mother, so of course I understand where you're coming from r538.

Two weeks ago, I ordered a food delivery from Costco. I did it through my Costco account and I didn't realize that it was actually Instacart that was doing the buying. I help out an elderly friend a few days a week and I needed to leave by 6:30 pm to get to his house so I needed delivery before then. The delivery window was 2:00-4:00 so that was fine. They changed the time to 4:00-6:00 and that would be OK if it got there on time. Around 6:15, I started getting texts about substitutions that were absolutely not acceptable. I couldn't cancel the order because I didn't have an instacart account and there was no way to cancel it through Costco. I texted back to cancel the order and left for my friend's place. While I was driving, she texted me back did I really want to cancel. I didn't see the text because - driving. When I got home a couple of hours later, all my food was dumped on the floor in front of my apartment - including eggs, cheese and turkey. I called to complain and they ended up refunding my money. They never even asked if I actually got the stuff. So, $75 worth of food for free.

Walmart workers who bring your stuff out to your car when you do online order/store pickup won't accept tips.

Instacart has tipping built in to the order process. They provide a suggested amount; you can raise or lower it.

Still no bleach in Switzerland. But a hell of a lot of food. And for the vegetables and fruit, they come from Italy, or Spain. YUM

The substitutions thing is weird. My friend placed an order for Delivery which took about a week and a half to receive. She didn't check the box that says, "no substitutions," so she ended getting random things that were in no way related to the actual item they didn't have. The funniest one was: Her order for baking soda was replaced with bananas.

Instacart has had 5 hour, same day delivery slots available lately if you check around 8 or 8 a.m.

This is is Northern Virginia.

I needed to get a few more things so I decided to give Peapod a try. I'm in downtown Brooklyn so they were shopping at the Atlantic Terminal Stop & Shop. Unfortunately, the delivery times were booked up for the next two weeks. This was late Tuesday evening so I decided to wait until after midnight to see if they would add another day. So just after 12:00, I stated refreshing to be the first person when a new day was available. Lo and behold, a spot for yesterday popped up so I grabbed it. I ordered pasta, asparagus, some junk food and a few other items, including TP. They made a few substitutions but nothing weird or unacceptable; but they I guess they didn't have the TP in stock and they didn't make a substitution, which was odd considering their website said they still had some TP in stock. I was surprised to find a bag of clementines and a big box of grape that I didn't order and they didn't charge me for. So, if you ordered from Peapod and didn't get your clementines or grapes, I have them.

R545 here. I forgot to mention that I went onto Coupon Cabin and I found a Peapod coupon that gave me a first time use coupon of $20 off of $75 and free delivery for the next sixty days, which usually costs $9.95. Also, they did add on another day some time that night but I went to bed so I don't know when it was added.

*if you check around 8 or 9 a.m

- r544

[quote]The funniest one was: Her order for baking soda was replaced with bananas.

Well, they both start with "B".

^^^ yes, I follow the logic…

Our Giant Eagle in NE Ohio us getting a lot of people coming over from PA to buy liquor.

They are also designating 7am-9am for elderly and/or people at risk, and installed acrylic panels at all the registers. I got a laugh out of that, since they are more or less telling uppity Karen's to stay the fuck out of the store with their little brats for the first two hours of opening. They would otherwise be there first thing in the morning hoarding up everything for themselves.

We went there Wednesday at 9am and they were finally stocking up the bread aisle - So I snagged some to freeze. It's probably all gone again by now though. What's even more bizarre, is that our local bread company, Schwebel's, is couple miles down the road from said Giant Eagle. It doesn't make sense why the grocery stores are always short on their bread.

So do the grocery stores come to your house and ring your doorbell? How does it work?

With Instacart you can give them instructions on what to do -- leave it on your doorstep, or wait for you, or whatever. Since you've paid (including the tip) up front, it they don't need to have any contact with you.

[quote]I guess they didn't have the TP in stock and they didn't make a substitution, which was odd considering their website said they still had some TP in stock.

They are ALL doing this, across the country. They often have toilet paper but they're saving it for the in-store customers.

They're trying to force you to go into the store for necessities because when you're in the store you buy more than online. It's greed, pure and simple, during a pandemic.

Yeah, stores are definitely holding back items for in-store customers. I wanted to place an order at a store but they wouldn't even let you put any of the items in the car,t but when I got to the store, they had plenty of the items in-store.

Seems odd considering a lot of stores were saying that online and pickup orders would receive priority.

I did my first Amazon Pantry order today (I don't have Amazon Fresh in my area.) I didn't try to order any paper products, but most of the other stuff I wanted was available. I've never used them before because you need to order $35 for free delivery, but I figured I might as well stock up on non-perishables like canned soup, cereal, pasta sauce, etc.

I won't use Instacart. I don't want no white man looking at my Tampax!!

Amazon is backordered on a lot of things like detergent and lotion. You can get some of what you need there but it won't be delivered until the middle of April.

R557 Amazon is giving delivery times of late April/May for a large majority of things on their site. I've ordered a few things that have said they won't be delivered until the end of April but ended up shipping out a few days later.

My partner and I are hitting up the low-end stores here in the Bay Area. Pak N Sav and Grocery Outlet. I did our usual every-three week Costco run and it was surprisingly noneventful.

We are finding most of what we need. Agreed with thinking outside the box.

I've done four Walmart pickup orders in the past two weeks. Two different locations. They either are out of stock when I order, or cancel when they pick the order for: eggs, cottage cheese, butter, and canned chili. FOUR times I've tried, and I've never gotten any of those items. Oh well.

My store was relatively normal. Everything was available except for toilet paper and some cleaning products. The soup/salad bar was closed and they installed a plastic barrier between the customer and the cashier.

R551, I receive a text when my delivery is on its way. The delivery driver has my phone number so he can call for directions if he can't find my apartment. The order page has a place to give delivery information like gate code, building number, house color, etc.

The multigrain breads are becoming scarce. I actually had to buy plain market brand white bread...all the Arnold’s, Pepperidge Farm, gone.

Went to the store this morning, and just like last Sunday morning, it was over an hour-long ordeal. It was over 40 minutes in line just to get INTO the store. And many critical things are still missing, though some stock is starting to appear back on the shelves (but only for those who go in the morning... it's cleared out by "after work" time).

R563 where are you located?

Just curious as when I was at the store, there was plenty of all types of bread. In fact, there was a sign that said, "There is NO Limit on Bread Items."

I wish I knew when the trucks came to deliver stuff. I wish I knew if the stores have stuff in the stock room or warehouse and hold some back. I've decided that I will go shopping before daylight on Wednesday morning next week. I will be there when they open. Maybe that's too early. Maybe I should go later. WTF. I'm running out of eggs, fresh garlic, and lightbulbs. I need batteries too because we get power outages around here.

You spoilt Amerikans! You see how the rest of the vorld liffs now! We have bread shortage and not so many kinds of of tea or coffee. And WTF is toilet paper . Ve don't give two shits how upset you get. Goot! Stand in line! Go home empty-handed. This is your new normal.

R566, I think early mornings is the best time to go. I think most stores replenish everything over night which is why they offer those Senior Hours, to make sure the store is stocked up for them. If you can get in right when they open, or right after the Seniors get out of there, you'll probably get most of what you want.

I would try on Monday or Wednesday morning.

[quote] mentions the real problem that’s being glossed over: that manufacturing is done in foreign countries and they’re keeping stock for themselves. That’s why there are no masks.[/quote]

Not true R144. A Harmac pulp mill in Nanaimo has the equipment available to fill an extremely large order for the U.S., who will be making millions of masks and gowns. The unfortunate part of it all, is Canada has to buy that product back when it can, after manufacturing in the U.S..

I'm glad the stores are having senior hours as soon as they open and are re-stocked, so older people can get what they need and the hoarding Karens aren't allowed to enter the store.

R550, are you in Youngstown?

Those seniors are still buying things they don’t need.

I’m glad Costco has started limiting items to ONE per customer only.

R570, plenty of those seniors are buying out supplies. They need to have limits on their purchases if they get special early access.

Our lives right now are exactly like those Soviets we mocked all through the 80s.

[quote] Those seniors are still buying things they don’t need.

What kinds of things are you talking about? Tampons?

[quote]I think early mornings is the best time to go. I think most stores replenish everything over night which is why they offer those Senior Hours, to make sure the store is stocked up for them. If you can get in right when they open, or right after the Seniors get out of there, you'll probably get most of what you want.

I went past a store at 6:00am that had that policy and the parking lot was packed and about 200 waiting between both entrances. What's the fucking point?

Instacart shoppers about to go on strike, cite unsafe working conditions.

After waiting for two days, I finally got a Whole Foods "delivery window" of 10 AM-noon. But I had to go back into their system to order another version of something they ran out of, and by the time I clicked "add" and went back to the delivery page, I got the ever-present "No delivery windows available. New windows are released throughout the day" window again.

I’ve had good luck with curbside pick up from shoprite in CT: very little subbed or omitted from my orders but I’m pretty much only ordering produce/meat/fish/dairy, I’ve a decent supply of pantry goods for a few weeks. You can set it up via their Shoprite at Home app. The grocery stores around here are crowded and people are getting too close to each other.

I’ve had good luck with curbside pick up from shoprite in CT: very little subbed or omitted from my orders but I’m pretty much only ordering produce/meat/fish/dairy, I’ve a decent supply of pantry goods for a few weeks. You can set it up via their Shoprite at Home app. The grocery stores around here are crowded and people are getting too close to each other.

I went yesterday wearing a mask and rubber gloves. There àre CV-19 cases in the metro area and approximately a handful number of deaths so far. The asshole shoppers will invade your space, including some elderly ones, and nasty bitches and dad turds bringing their kids inside to shop & romp. Some people show caution and look informed, others are there to frolic and hoard

I bought pet food supplies for 2-3 weeks. I also got some fresh ground beef and array of other things The paper products and cleaning supplies shelves were empty except for paper plates and I saw people picking up those.

My local store just sent me digital coupons for Kleenex, Cottonelle, and Viva Paper Towels....hilarious.

[quote]I went yesterday wearing a mask and rubber gloves.

Did anyone present hole and ask you to fist them?

What's with all the kids in stores? Hey Karen, leave your fucking kids at home!

[quote]Did anyone present hole and ask you to fist them

My one friend that works there is hot as hell. But he knows I am practicing social distancing right now. He puts in a lot of hours and is around too many people for my comfort, though he too is trying to be careful. He will ask people to step back if they move too close.

R565 South Philadelphia. The local Acme supermarket. Also the new Target/CVS store. There’s an organic market nearby but I am sure that they charge too much.

PS and all the food delivery services are raping my emails with pleas for me to use their services. Anyone else have this issue?

Be patient. Some peoplecan't leave the kids home alone, so they have no choice. Just remind them to keep their distance. I've been lying to people, telling them I "have something, probably only allergies but I don't want to sneeze on you!" LOL! It works. It also keeps them from acting hostile.

Just went onto the Peapod site and grabbed a delivery time for April 10th. They let you add to your list right up until the day before the delivery is scheduled. I should be running out of things right about then so it works perfectly.

r589 The problem is that you have no idea what will be available on April 10 - nor do they.

Things in my city that are STILL almost always gone, r575:

Toilet paper, disinfectant wipes, baby wipes, dry pasta.

Bottled water seems to have returned. But I've never, in all my life, seen a banana-barren grocery store until now.

The lovely deli bars in my grocery stores have also closed. Why can't they just package their servings up?

Oh, Costco was out of salt yesterday.

Motherfucking SALT!

Also, the mid-fancy grocery chain in my city just erected WALL-SIZED SNEEZE GUARD WINDOWS 8 feet across the cashier. Like a fucking bank or convenience store in L.A. or something.

We can't use recyclable bags anymore.

They can't leave their kids at home, f584.

The schools are closed. They can't and shouldn't hire babysitters so the kids have to stay at their sides all the time.

At Whole Foods this morning, the staff had placed lines of blue tape every six feet on the floor. Not just at the cash register area. And I had to wait in line to get in the store.

It's bullshit that these parents can't leave their kids home alone. Most of the people I see dragging their kids around, the kid is old enough to stay home and/or watch the other kids. In most cases there is at least one parent that is also stuck at home but could be watching the kids... but they're not. So these moms and dads either drag the kids with them (even though one parent is at home) or they bring the whole fucking family.

It's not about necessity, it's about cluelessness/selfishness.

I also think a large number of them are dragging their kids with them to skirt the, "1 per," rule on most items, so they can continue being greedy fucking assholes and hoard.

All my local stores have been out of salt for about 2 weeks.

Upside to 33% unemployment rate: fewer "bulk-buyers." Should be more food in the markets, and you can buy apples from people selling them in the streets. Just like 1932.

This thread reminds me of why we hate the breeders.

They are all entitled cunts and dicks who thinks they get a pass because he managed to stay on her for 2 minutes and shoot a load that managed to create spawn.

The world revolves around tbem, remember?

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