Dry Goods, Dried Up?

We are on the last day of March and in to this pandemic about three and a half weeks or so. One of the big stories that came out of this Coronavirus other than the virus itself, is the hoarding of toilet paper and paper towels. I will give you a moment to re-read that and digest that information....

Let's take a look at this issue.

Those who are on the side of hoarding will argue that they need to stock up on as much material that they can because should the industry shut down or the virus get so bad that people are advised not to go out at all, they want to have enough product for their families. Ok, I get that, and perhaps on it's face, as a means of protecting ones family, I might agree. What I disagree with is the fact that everyone is going through this, and to take that product from another family, who is trying to do the same thing, protect and provide for their family, seems wrong to me.

Luckily for all, the stores and manufacturers are doing a great job in restocking their shelves as quickly as possible and I think it's getting better, slowly but surely.

I very much agree with the stand that most stores have taken, which is to place a limitation on the number of certain items a person can purchase. My local grocery store limits the toilet paper to one package per person, per transaction and the same for paper towels, eggs and milk; with exception that you may buy one regular milk and one lactose-free or otherwise "specialty" milk because of specific needs of family members.

Another note I'd like to make, now that we're pretty far into this pandemic, the stores are definitely trying to be safe about all this and be quick about restocking product as fast as possible. Our local stores are closing early, having at least one morning per week that is reserved for an "early entry" for seniors only and limited the number of customers that can be in the store at one time. All of these things seem like good ideas. I certainly have not read any information that proves otherwise, therefore I say good on these retailers.

As I've mentioned in almost all of my recent posts, I want to make it clear, that not all retailers or businesses are able to remain open during this time and/or some have been forced to lay people off. I don't want to make light of any these things, our hearts go out to those who have been severely negatively affected by this pandemic and we wish you a speedy recovery.

Thank you again to all of the police, fire and medical staff working around the clock to continue to provide this country superior safety, service and support. Thank you to all those factory workers in the petroleum industry, food industry and all other home goods and products that are very much needed during this time.

I also think it has been great seeing some of these large companies doing their part; like Tesla stepping up providing ventilators, MLB jersey manufacturers changing over and making masks, some companies top executives taking pay cuts to help their bottom lines to hopefully prevent layoffs in their companies and so on. The reason I want to point these out, and there are many others, is that there is so many negative stories out there. Some true and a lot not, so be careful of those and I think it's important for us to focus on the positive things that are happening, especially because we have a long way to go and who knows what will happen, so lets take the good things and appreciate them as they come.

Take care everyone, be safe and 'til next time....bye!!!