Mostly Apolitical Thread for Discussing/Venting our Rational/Irrational COVID-19 Fears and Experiences in 2020

I might save the end of this spiderman game because I feel like it might be a spoiler.

Dude behind me had 24 rolls of tp at the CVS.

Then I went to the grocery store and there was no bread flour! Tons of all purpose flour though.

I ended up buying corn meal.

Is the toilet paper freakout just a US thing?

i have maybe an excessive supply of AP flour right now. there was some bread flour today but i didn't get any.

xpost well I guess a lot of the rest of the world uses bidets

Neanderthal, I wonder why you are on the email list for Buffalo Wild Wings

I mean

like, are there important chicken-wing-related developments you are afraid to miss out on

"this just in, we're taking a mostly indedible foodstuff and drenching it in a slightly different sort of sauce this month. come drink beer in front of our televisions"

I took a business trip to Winston Salem in 2018, then secretly took the company-paid rental car to Virginia on the weekend to see Judas Priest. I decided to pay for all meals outside of Winston-Salem out of pocket, and I drove back the next day and it was the NFL season opener and near kickoff, and I found a Buffalo Wild Wings. and then I like added their app or something to like get a free appetizer and inadvertently signed up and I pay so little attention to my emails since i mass delete them that I guess I never unsubscribed.

anyway that was way more of an answer than you expected but I am extremely bored.

Neanderthal, I wonder why you are on the email list for Buffalo Wild Wings

I’d assumed everyone in Florida was.

that's my answer, "everyone in Florida is'. Mods delete my previous post.

Toilet paper rush a thing here in Paris too.
despite “bidet” being a French word, I’ve never seen one in France. They’re common in Italy though, and I’ve had them in Czechia too. But here we are wiping our asses with paper and it’s not just the dwindling number of American tourists doing the flush rush.

The hoarding thing is mind boggling- this isn’t a zombie apocalypse! It seems rushing to a supermarket, crowded with people, touching thing lots of other people have touched, is the worst thing to do??? I don’t understand what’s so difficult about “wash your hands and avoid contact with too many people”. Maybe because I already do these things so I’m proceeding as normal.

I’ve stocked up on literally nothing. I think we have maybe 6 rolls of toilet paper.

I bought 96 rolls of toilet paper today thinking I would be set for months but then when I got home and saw it there all stacked up looking so good I said aw damn I'm gonna go to town on all this TP and now it's gone

I just couldn't help myself

too much TP for one butt to be crying

SBA emergency loans might assuage my biggest source of anxiety, then just to worry about keeping my mom from getting it/dying.

I thought first mention of the TP rush on this thread came from me in Ireland.
Have now heard it directly related to the scarcity in Australia which is where it was initially being reported as run out.
Like people were listening to a situation on the far side of the planet and using it to create a panic then empty shelves.
I think supplies are still coming in so you can still get everything I'm the morning for a while. But did see some shelves empty 7pm Thursday.
Not sure if that happened again yesterday.
Was in in the morning.

The hoarding thing is mind boggling- this isn’t a zombie apocalypse! It seems rushing to a supermarket, crowded with people, touching thing lots of other people have touched, is the worst thing to do???

otm. I've resolved not to panic until I've been told that delivery trucks will not be replenishing stock. As far as I can tell, grocery stores will be getting their usual 2-3 days a week delivery as scheduled (at least for now), so right now the biggest bummer is having to wait a few extra days for things. Maybe worth asking a stockperson when their trucks usually arrive?

Dear Reader,

We’re living through turbulent times together. Our booksellers are your neighbors, your friends and family. Your stories are our stories, and we know how resilient our communities are.

Sincerely,

The Booksellers of Barnes & Noble

that's the whole email

lol

need something to read? the kobo ebook store has you covered...

https://www.kobo.com/gb/en/list/literature-and-contagion-a-reading-list/OrMYqNPotMLu5wjXxRZZmA

To Our Taco Bell Fans,

Like most of you, I’ve been reading the news about the spread of coronavirus and I am convinced that Taco Bell, our franchisees and team members have an obligation to do something to help stop this from spreading. It’s the right thing to do, but outside of increased cleaning in the restaurants like we’ve been doing, how can we make a larger impact?

As regions of the U.S. begin to mandate public closures and self-quarantine, we are equipping our restaurants to serve our guests via drive-thru and delivery only, where necessary. Should we need to temporarily close our dining rooms, we would be limiting millions of guest interactions and further enabling social distancing. We are going to redefine what it means to be a social brand during this coronavirus pandemic, while at the same time keeping our team members safe, and continuing to provide our fans with the delicious Taco Bell food they love.

We aim to be the safest place to eat AND the safest place to work. Our 7,200 managers are well-trained and prepared, and we’re going back to them to revisit our existing industry-leading training and operating procedures. Their personal well-being, safe food preparation, restaurant cleanliness and illness policies are our top priorities and are best practices from our operators from around the globe.

Because our people are the heart of our organization, and we understand the impact these actions can have, we’re amending our sick policy at our company-owned U.S. restaurants to better accommodate our teams while ensuring no one works who is sick. We’ll be paying employees who are required to stay at home, or who work at a restaurant that is closed, for their scheduled or regularly scheduled hours during their time away from work. We’re actively working with our franchise partners to encourage a similar approach.

Our purpose—to feed people’s lives with unexpected good—guides us in times like these, and we are thankful for your support. You can count on us to keep you informed as new information becomes available.

Mark King
CEO, Taco Bell Corp.

if y’all wanna download ebooks rn i highly support it because that’s my job

The hoarding thing is mind boggling- this isn’t a zombie apocalypse! It seems rushing to a supermarket, crowded with people, touching thing lots of other people have touched, is the worst thing to do???

― just1n3

well, that depends! is the assumption the person is making that we can avoid infection by avoiding contact, or is the assumption that we are probably already infected, that we've been exposed continuously to the virus over the past few weeks, that on the off chance we haven't the most effective way to deal with is not to "socially distance" but to completely self-quarantine until the worst passes? is the assumption that this is just a mass panic that will blow over and when the trucks bring a new supply of goods on monday they'll just be sitting on pristinely empty shelves, or is the assumption that there will be nobody healthy to drive the trucks, nobody healthy to staff the stores, that "pandemic" really does mean everyone?

both of these approaches are assumptions, because we don't know, we don't have sufficient evidence or knowledge to make a rational assessment of the scope and nature of the situation. the overwhelming majority of us under 60 (and, to be clear, almost certainly the vast majority of us _over_ 60) aren't going to die, but we are going to continue to need to eat, we are going to continue to poop, and knowing that i can't say i'm entirely surprised that some people are going out and hoarding.

Just got back from Trader Joe's (bad idea). The milk section was reduced to buttermilk and almond beverage, and the produce section was ransacked. At another store yesterday, I saw someone bagging fresh broccoli as if it was wartime and this was the first food they'd been able to get in ages. I hope all of this gets eaten before it spoils.

i was thinking how horrible it must be to get your period and not have any tp to use because it was hoarded

I keep certain well-worn washcloths for when I have my period. If I were to use them in lieu of tp, rinsing them out after use...living alone does have its compensations.

I was thinking about if it were someone's first period. How scary it would be to 1) get your period during a pandemic and 2) have this happen during a tp shortage.

Wait... what if the TP is for all the masturbating thats about to happen

http://replygif.net/i/380.gif" class="noborder">

Wait... what if the TP is for all the masturbating thats about to happen

https://replygif.net/i/380.gif" class="noborder">

I had a little anxiety attack as we drove back into the city yesterday. It definitely helped to see ppl walking around and doing stuff, a reminder that complete isolation is not possible or necessary or desirable (yet??) and all of NYC is not a zombie-infested wasteland. I mean depending on the neighborhood, natch.

I sort of veer between being resigned to getting this and getting through it and struggling to quit/cut back on my smoking (it's a journey) and also panic that everyone is going to know someone who dies and when will essential services shut down and how far into the wilderness do we need to be by then? My dad has multiple co-morbidities and I keep thinking what if I never see him again? I was supposed to go home for a long visit soon and it's been indefinitely postponed--some people are still flying, albeit cautiously-- but even if I'm not a carrier *now*, what if I'm exposed to the virus in the airport or plane and I deliver it to my parents? It didn't seem prudent but I have multiple friends in my soc med who just left for Mexico or (uhhh) LONDON and are posting pics like everything is normal.

I’m definitely considering hoarding purple o.b.s.

I just took my family to San Francisco against all common sense. Both Austin and SF airports were surprisingly crowded, but our plane was only 1/4 full. Still, being on the plane was the most stressful part because there were definitely sick people on there. I think my anxiety about this is driving my family crazy, they have a very blasé attitude about it all.

Just heard two workers at White Plain post office tested positive and that’s a main hub so no mail today???

i'm going to the movies at BAM today (50% capacity), don't at me

My vacation plan is to do the activities, restore and shopping, we had planned to do, but maintain healthy distances from people as much as possible and use hand sanitizer or wash as much as possible.

That should say: *restaurants and shopping

Got a dentist appointment Tuesday morning...I trust all healthcare workers worth their credentials to practice full risk minimization, but this should be interesting.

our preparedness for short-term self-quarantine is absolutely ridiculous peak white people. "well, we can't go out for our usual saturday morning frappucino this week, time to get out the xantham gum!"

because our family isn't preparing for the complete collapse of society, we're preparing for reduced availability of consumer goods for a week to a month, and that's not the fucking apocalypse. i can't see why i would prepare for this any differently than i'd prepare for a hurricane!

Our friend who works at Trader Joe's tells us there's no point going back for at least a week, it's been decimated. We're pretty well set on food, if it's necessary, but it's honestly impossible to know if it will be necessary. I've tried talking things through with my wife, but it just makes her kind of defensive.
"Maybe we should pace ourselves with the eggs.'
"Why? We have plenty of eggs."
"Yeah, but we don't want to run out and have to go back to the store."
"You had no problem going to the store for eggs yesterday."
"Sure, but I don't want to *have* to go back for more, and for all I know they may tell us all to stay put."
"Well, if that happens we could just have them delivered, couldn't we?"
"Maybe, unless they run out of eggs or there's a huge backlog."
"The store had plenty of eggs."
"Yeah, but they only do until they don't, and we don't know how this will effect production or distribution of anything."
" ... "

It's hard to know the difference between being prepared and, I guess, *prepping.* All I know is that with four of us more or less stuck inside for the next few weeks, working from home or e-learning, we're going to be going through lots of food, anyway.

Anecdote: a friend of ours has to go to Boston to get her kid out of the dorm. She's flying, but the plan is for her to self-quarantine on her return.

Nicest thing I've heard some suggest is to buy gift certificates from local businesses to give as gifts later. That gives them cash right now, and guarantees traffic later when more people start going out again.

xpost I guess one reason it's different from a hurricane is that it's happening everywhere.

I don't think people should hoard beyond what they need or already use, but it is a very very good idea to get some extra items if you have not already.

When the grocery stores and everything closed suddenly here and then we had curfews (because all it takes is for some businesses to suddenly get looted for this to happen), the truck drivers also decided to go on strike, a lot of metros were closed so people couldn't get to work. And some grocery stores did end up opening at the end of the week but there were very very long lines and they were only allowing so many people in at a time. We didn't have a need to leave the house for at least 2 weeks and it was no stress zone in our apt. I was looking at an account from someone in Italy in quarantine and they kind of said about the same thing. Lines at grocery stores, one per household can go out.

As long as you have easy accessibility now, you should just do the errands, it will give you peace of mind later.

Also yogurt, eggs, tortillas, cheese,  caramelized onions, pesto- things like that totally freeze fine.

Wait... what if the TP is for all the masturbating thats about to happen

May they mix up their Purell with lube.

best thing about the whole thing is that there isnt really a way to judge ppl and be wrong, this baby will work from all angles

xpost I guess one reason it's different from a hurricane is that it's happening everywhere.

― Josh in Chicago

well there are certainly lots of differences, to be fair. how much hurricane recovery comes from out of state, though? my impression from living in florida that a lot of hurricane response was determined internally on the state level. when a hurricane hit a big chunk of the state, i don't feel like we sat around and waited for someone else to bail us out; we started taking steps to recover.

the biggest difference is that ever since andrew florida has known what a hurricane can do and how to deal with it - if it's going to be compared to any hurricane is would probably be andrew, which i wasn't around for. the other issue is that while hurricanes caused extensive damage to infrastructure, which covid-19 won't, as soon as the hurricane was over everyone could get back to work. i don't know what people are going to do if the only people available to keep the infrastructure running are sick and contagious. if this is a true pandemic situation, it's not going to help to have literally everybody stay home, is it? not just in healthcare, where the crunch will be most acute, but infrastructure _everywhere_ just isn't going to work without people to make it work.

the big similarity i see between this and a hurricane is that the level of direct damage covid-19 can do is limited in both scope and time. the double-edged sword of the infection rate is that the worse it is, the quicker it is going to go. i'm expecting the next month to be the worst of it; anything bad that happens after that would, i suspect, be an entirely different problem which would require a qualitatively different response from effective COVID-19 response.

A huge difference, for the better, is that no one really has to worry about water, power, heat, plumbing, etc.

Hopefully my SF jury duty in mid-april gets cancelled.