[WeavingGryphon]

Was down to the supermarket for milk and the locusts have been through, empty pasta boxes everywhere, baked beans pallets have been empty for over a week toilet/kitchen/tissue aisle is empty and I didn't even go near the soap aisle. And there's still no popcorn kernals.

[RubyRed]

    It's no wonder we used squares of newspaper instead of izal. As least it was absorbent and didn't slide off your nethers . As a child it was good for tracing paper.

[John]

Our local coop seems to be rationing by only putting a small amount on the shelves at a time. The announcement that over 70's and those at risk will be asked (ordered?) to self quarantine for 4 months soon seems to have caused yet more panic buying.
Since we're both at risk we have prepared for this situation anyway. It's pretty hard to have 4 months stock of everything you want in but we've a cunning plan for our daughter to pick up and deliver to us. Plan C is supermarket deliveries which some do in our area and some don't.
The coop, btw, has the advantage of being a little more expensive than the big supermarkets so less panic stock stripping and quieter. Very debatable whether it is worth driving an extra 5 miles to a big shop to save a couple of pounds anyway.
 

[JayG]

    It's no wonder we used squares of newspaper instead of izal. As least it was absorbent and didn't slide off your nethers . As a child it was good for tracing paper.

Is this a smear campaign against dear old Izal?   

Can't remember whether we had it in our house when we were kids, although I do remember its peculiarly non-stick properties, similar to baking parchment - not helpful! 

Went to Tossco yesterday and although it didn't seem especially busy, it wasn't just the pasta and toilet roll shelves which were empty - main reason for going was to pick up some minced beef for a friend; she was lucky - one pack left! (If she'd asked for fresh chicken she'd have been out of luck.)

[snowdrops]

I called in to Asda yesterday to pick some bits up for our daughter & partner who are having to self isolate (probably just a bad cold) there was no toilet paper, tissues,kitchen roll. I person them the last 2 x2 packs of chicken breasts & I made ‘do’ with turkey breast slices. There was 1 bag of pl flour,which was on my list at home so I had it & then there was 1 bag of 00 flour so I had that in lieu of pasta & rice, there was cook in the bag rice but no dried. I did get cat food & doubled up on dried biscuits for them, I don’t want them to start on us if there’s no food for them lol.

[mumofstig]

Mollycat is already complaining because I have no Dreamies treats left, but if she thinks I'm going shopping just to get those... Plenty of sachets and enough dried food for a couple of months, so she ain't starving 

[WeavingGryphon]

Something I have noticed is that at school drop off time during the morning you'd see loads of pensioners afterwards going to the shop. Now you don't and if your waiting to cross the street, they wait until you have gone before approaching the crossing.

Today, shop empting further, baked beans, pasta, passatta  , rice, a lot of vegetables, soap, toilet/kitchen/tissues. One of the other parents was very frustrated and upset at the supermarket because they need squirty anti bacterial soap. Just to clean their kids hands, not ads part of a panic.

[WeavingGryphon]

There is no bread, pasta (except for lasagna), rice (except for the cook in the bag expensive ones), passata, baked beans, soap, toilet/kitchen rolls and hardly any dried or tinned pulses, lentils or vegetables. Meat, biscuits and crisps are low. In the evenings there is no milk.

First thing in the morning it's like locusts going through. For the record I just got milk.

[John]

It's not showing the best of people - but in a week or two the manic, panic buyers will realise they have enough to last them 10 years and be wondering what to do with 4 gallons of milk about to get smelly!

Heard from a friend about a woman in the supermarket with 3 kids in tow. She'd taken them out of school to avoid infection and was trailing them round the shops! How do these people manage to live whilst being so utterly stupid?

[Plot 1 Problems]

An observation I've also made John. The supermarket has got to be the worst place to be.

[Growster...]

Our local pub (https://theeight-bells.co.uk/) have just been around the locality, with a brief message of support and offers to help us oldies!

Result? Mrs Growster's addiction to fish and chips and mine to draught beer has resulted in a Friday order, and may well continue for a few weeks as well! They're lovely people, and, we're so happy to get their offer of help, and we'll have a great lunch into the bargain!

This all makes us feel a happy bunch of oldies...

[Mr Dog]

Just been to (try) and get some bread while Mrs Dog went to the dentist and saw someone with a trolley piled high with 5L bottles of fabric conditioner.! Also the independent discount shop in town is selling bottles of antibac gel marked at 49p for £5 and packs of toilet rolls marked at £5 for £20. I can't help but hope that it won't be one of the businesses to survive this crisis.

[WeavingGryphon]

It's not showing the best of people - but in a week or two the manic, panic buyers will realise they have enough to last them 10 years and be wondering what to do with 4 gallons of milk about to get smelly!

Heard from a friend about a woman in the supermarket with 3 kids in tow. She'd taken them out of school to avoid infection and was trailing them round the shops! How do these people manage to live whilst being so utterly stupid?

Spot on, the schools are being scrubbed to an inch of being worn away so  are far cleaner than the average supermarket and supermarket trolley. The kids have indoor shoes, being made to wash their hands until a load of them have lizard hands and are being watched for the slightest sniffle so they as a whole are maintained at a healthy clean state. As I learned from BBC radio Scotland there's a lot of concern about children that only get fed at school or their clothes cleaned at school or ahem, getting free hygiene products available in the girls toilets. So this is going to actively harm a lot of children. Please note the weather thread how I often comment about the weather's relationship so please know kids laundry often know the washing machine.

The city and shire council buy reasonably seasonal food from local businesses for the schools. Now they've closed the schools those business that sold food to them are going to suffer and put more pressure on the supermarkets as people are feeding the kids themselves. Can we buy from those suppliers?

[WeavingGryphon]

Just been to (try) and get some bread while Mrs Dog went to the dentist and saw someone with a trolley piled high with 5L bottles of fabric conditioner.! Also the independent discount shop in town is selling bottles of antibac gel marked at 49p for £5 and packs of toilet rolls marked at £5 for £20. I can't help but hope that it won't be one of the businesses to survive this crisis.

That is disgusting. if there was a disagree or disgust button, I would have clicked it.

[JayG]

Went to Tossco yesterday and although it didn't seem especially busy, it wasn't just the pasta and toilet roll shelves which were empty - main reason for going was to pick up some minced beef for a friend; she was lucky - one pack left! (If she'd asked for fresh chicken she'd have been out of luck.)

Went back this afternoon and the situation was even worse (no milk, bread, meat, virtually no fresh veg, freezers all nearly empty.)
What on earth are people doing with all this stuff?   

There's an irony here for those getting on a bit and being forced to visit multiple supermarkets just for a few essentials, that the chances of picking up the virus must be considerably higher thanks to all this panic buying.