Shopping in the Time of COVID

Teikiatsu has been doing our shopping and errands, but he ran into a mishap with his foot today, and it's swollen and sore.

So I got to go out into the wilds of COVID shopping for the weekly groceries.

He's right ... it's wild what people are and are not buying. Thankfully, since we positioned ourselves well to ride out TPocalypse and have supplies in other areas, none of this is terribly concerning for us, more amusing than anything, but still WILD ...

First, I got all the produce I wanted. No one seems to care about things like fresh ginger root, and the apples were back in stock. People seem to have realized for the most part that purchasing mass quantities of perishable fruits and vegetables is mainly counterproductive unless you have some means of preserving them and intend to do the labor it takes.

Deli counter had everything, and the local artisan bread bakery must have just delivered because they had plenty of loaves. I scored some sweet sourdough no problem and could have gotten just about anything else I wanted -- wheat, rye, seven seed whole grain (have some in the fridge from last week) ... The store had a sale on KC strips for $4 each, so we're having steak this week. They had a massive case full and lots of ground beef, but chicken and pork were very thin.

Fish was thin. I still got trout and cod for good prices and splurged on some nice halibut.

Then the fun began. I hit the dairy section and it was like a bomb had gone off. I say people loading gallons of milk. I'm not sure what they think they're doing. Milk expires pretty fast. Maybe they think they'll freeze it. One lady was b1tchging about how they only had this or that and she couldn't stand the taste, and I'm thinking that if she wants milk, she'll take whats there. At least I managed to get what I wanted with a decent expiration on it.

Eggs ... they had about a dozen cartons total across all sizes and brands. We still have most of two cartons, so we're good. Glad I didn't need those today.

Juice and cheese were just as bad. I snagged a 5lb bag of shredded cheese, and I'm glad I didn't need any butter because they had 0 butter, margarine, spread of any kind, not even vegan substitute types. It was all gone. It's a good thing butter is one of those things we tend to buy whenever there is a good price, so we always tend to have a pound or two chillin' in the freezer (not counting the boxes in the fridge) because that's one I didn't even think of when we were stocking ourselves up over the course of the past few months.

I scored the very last bag of Santitas chips on the shelf. I likely got it because it was on top and shoved to the very back where almost no one was going to reach. Since I'm tall with long, long limbs, I can stand on tip-toe and just reach back there. I can reach back there even better than my husband, so it was a good thing I was doing it this morning and not him. Those are chips more for him and kiddo. I don't like them. The pork rinds were gone ...

I went for the popcorn next. It was decimated. I expected the microwave crap to be gone, but I figured the stove top kernals to be mostly there. I guess there's been a renaissance in making it the old-fashioned way because that was gone too. I had to settle for two plastic jars full of a more artisan brand coming in at just under $10 instead of a regular bag full. Beggars can't be choosers though. If you want some things, you pay for them.

Getting large zip loc baggies to marinate today's chicken in was the same -- buy what they have and no shopping for the best buy. Boy am I glad I don't need TP or paper towels right now ...

And then the weird one, the item that almost scuttled today's dinner plans -- soy sauce. Who hoards soy sauce?! Everything else in the Asian aisle is there, even the noodles, but not soy sauce. At least they had tamari (gluten free soy sauce). I am guessing most people don't know what it is or they would have wiped it out too, and it will serve as an acceptable substitute when our current soy runs out today.

I didn't even try to look at rice though. I'll bet it was gone, but we don't need it since we already have plenty on hand to make yellow rice with to go with our chicken thighs tonight.

Sooner or later, people will realize the world isn't ending, but until they do, this is just crazy.

Just back from a suicide mission to our local Kroger.
Plenty of produce...Plenty of dairy and bread and other baked goods.
Beer/Wine/Soda/Water in great supply.
Beans, rice, beef all gone.

I had to buy KRAFT olive oil mayonnaise...It's the end of the world.

a reply to: ketsuko

The time to hoard was before. Fortunately, I kind of saw it coming and made my wife go out and stock up on TP, rice and beans, etc. Basically, the essentials that have long shelf-life.

The thing is there is no need to be panicking right now because trucks / delivery are still functioning.

IF the supply chains shut down, then it would be a SHTF scenario.

What I've learned is all the stuff I've read about societal breakdown in post apocalyptic fiction is true.

a reply to: Edumakated

We started our subtle stocking up in January, and I told my folks to do the same then as much as possible.

So we have no need to get extra stuff at the moment. That's why this is all just carrying on with the weekly shop as much as we can to avoid touching our extra stuff until and unless we have to.

We sat down and figured what dry goods like TP, paper towels, etc., we use in the course of a month and then purchased a few months ahead a while ago. We did less because we think society will totally break down and more because we thought *this* might happen. If we end up needing TP, we have some ... just not 50 cases we ran out and bought five days ago and had to club someone over the head to procure.

There seems to be runs on items, like everyone needs something for a couple of days, then they decide to buy out something else. I don't have to worry about eggs, I have a couple of people I have been buying eggs from for years, I take the bulk of their production, about eight dozen every other week, and give them to the kids and grandkids and if there is some left, I share them with people I know. I mentioned she should get a spare bag of feed in case they shut down things like Tractor supply or Mar-z-dotes that have chicken food for a week or two.

So yesterday I decided to go on a recon mission. I first went to the local market one town over. They pretty much had everything (no TP though, of course). They didn't have a lot of everything, but they had most canned goods, fresh veggies, milk, meat, bread. There were no marauding hoarders ransacking the joint, so that was good. I picked up a few things, making sure to leave some for others. I self-rationed to (2) items max of any one thing.

The one thing missing around here is flour! Flour is gone, gone...GONE! Looked online and it's nowhere to be found there either. I had some ordered (thankfully), a 25lb bag; let's just hope it actually shows up and doesn't go mysteriously missing along the way. Supplier said it shipped, so we'll see. Yeast is another thing missing. I guess everyone is turning into Mormons! LOL! (I bet 90% of the people who ransacked the flour don't even know what to do with it!)

You mentioned butter, dang it, I forgot to even look for that and we could probably use some too. I view butter like milk and fresh veggies, I think it will keep coming because cows have to be milked, and vegetables have to be harvested. So, I'm not too stressed out about those items.

Soy sauce is interesting, I didn't even look. We've got a big bottle of it, so I think we're good for a while anyway.

After that, I decided to go to King Soopers (basically Kroger) about 30 miles away just for grins. WHOA!! Looked like a freaking WAR-ZONE!! Commando shoppers mounting assaults down the aisles. Special Forces shoppers low crawling, daggers clenched in their teeth, back by the stockroom door waiting to ambush the next stock clerk coming out with stock. Casualties and twisted wreckage laying in every aisle. It was surreal! Kind of skeery actually. People leering at everyone and everything. There was one stock clerk putting out canned goods with a crowd of people around him. He'd put out two cans, and two cans would disappear. He'd put out two more, and poof, they were gone.

It got so bad, people were just ransacking the boxes he had on his cart before he could even open them because he wasn't going fast enough. Finally he just stepped back to keep from being injured (or eaten). It looked like a feeding frenzy! Like a bunch of starving piranhas scouring a carcass. When the dust settled all that was left was a pile of shredded cardboard and a pallet jack. I don't know what happened to the clerk, he probably ran away and was cowering in fear somewhere.

Man, people have watched WAY, WAY, too many episodes of The Walking Dead!!! Unbelievable!!

Oh, and one funny thing...

I've learned most of America must hate sauerkraut. The canned goods aisle is completely decimated, not a single can to be had, UNLESS you want sauerkraut. Plenty of that left! I think I even saw a sign which said "Buy 1 and get 4 free".

I like sauerkraut, so I picked up a couple cans just for the fun of it. Went to the self-checkout lane and scanned my two cans of sauerkraut and left. That was all I had, and it garnered a few stares.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Dad'll be fine then. He loves him some sauerkraut.

Went to the wild world of Walmart today, in north Georgia. Less people than expected with the half full parking lot. Greeter giving out cart wipes as you enter. I had sprayed mine down with my potassium permanganate mix in the parking lot.

The shelves were not fully stocked as they once were, but had a good verity of most things except for toilet paper and eggs. Is there some alternate use for these items that I am unaware of? I heard one guy complaining that Walmart doesn't stock handguns.

Misted my loot down as I loaded it into the car then soaked my shoes and hands before getting in. Traffic is nicely not there.

Found eggs at Aldi. Nothing out of the ordinary there except for people not getting close together while shopping, which is good.

Stopped by a couple of gun shops Friday looking for a part that they did not have. You would think they would stock batteries for laser sights. They all said everything changed last weekend. Starting last Monday, everyone was looking for ammunition and they were out of several varieties and running low on others.

I wonder how much longer this civilized shopping will last? I have heard stories of stores being almost cleaned out in other cities not too far away.

a reply to: ketsuko
My own theory is that panic-buying is triggered by other people's panic-buying, even down to the specific items. When people see a trolley full with X, or the X shelf nearly empty, there is a mental response of "I must buy X or miss out." If nobody buys tinned meat, then nobody else buys tinned meat. Those things that people aren't bothering to buy, I reckon you could start a chain-reaction on them just by filling your own trolley.

a reply to: DISRAELI

Your theory matches mine honestly. I'm not going to expend the money to try it though.

I was surprised that the soy was gone, but no one had decided to ride out the apocalypse on Top Ramen though. Maybe I have to go to a college town to see that one looted.

"HUGE SAVINGS on Tuna Helper *gack* at a store near you...Now at the shockingly LOW price of only $299.95 per box! Get it while supplies last!"**

**Prices subject to change (exponentially). Limit 1 per customer. Portions may be less than advertised. Product may be opened, partially eaten and/or have missing ingredients. All products are past expiration dates (2004).

- Shopping in 2021 -

I went out to buy some clothes yesterday, and didn't realize that the Mayor of my nearest city had declared a state of emergency. I didn't realize it until I got into the city and saw that all of the parking lots were empty. It was strange, because there was still plenty of traffic. So, I saw one of my go to outdoors stores was still open.

I walked in, and it was business as usual. I took a look at the clothes they were selling, which are good quality clothes, but decided I didn't care to spend a couple of hundred of dollars on clothing. I recently lost my favorite flashlight, so I went to see if I could find another one.

All of their flashlights were sold out. Figured.

Went to check out their ammo out of curiosity. Almost all gone. There were a few boxes of .22 but that was it.

So, I decided to check out their ammo loading equipment, and was surprised that it was nearly depleted as well. Very little powder, and only a couple of presses.

The arrows and bolts were all gone too.