A Moment in My Life – Thursday, November 5, 2020
“Good morning, Jeannie! Just heard on Channel 2 News that there’s going to be a second wave of panic buying in the coming weeks due to the rise in Covid-19 cases.” Ugh! Not again! Just when I thought it was behind us. This can’t be happening again! I expected a second wave, and even a possible third, or forth, wave for a rise in Covid-19 cases, but I did not anticipate another wave of panic buying. We survived the horrendous buying panic, and we moved on. Having we learned from the first time around? I’m not a genius or anybody special, so if I learned from that first buying panic outbreak, everybody else much have, too. If only that were true, we wouldn’t have to worry about another buying panic, now would we?
When Lena alerted me to this news, my first thought was to prepare for the worse if the general public does respond exactly by doing as they predicted—panic. I don’t want to add to the panic, but at the same time, I don’t want to let my denial cause me to be one of those people store hopping for necessary supplies, either. I honestly hoped that people would respond disinterestedly to this news, but it makes sense for people to do like me and be prepared, not overly, but just a little.
Since I had the luxury to drop everything and head to Costco right away, I did. After all, it would be ludicrous for me not to go right away. It would be nobody’s fault but my own for not taking action immediately because I could. The most challenging items for me to find were toilet paper and rice from the last panic buying wave. Luckily, I was well stocked and didn’t need to participate in the panic buying until it lasted too long when I ran out of stock, and it forced me into the lion’s den with all the other desperate shoppers. Many other items were on this hard-to-find list, but these two items were my top essential ones.
I made it to Costco on El Camino Real, SSF, around noon, and the paper aisle was plentiful. I grabbed a pack of Kirkland brand toilet paper and a ten-pound sack of brown rice, and I was good to go.
A friend told me she went to Costco on S. Airport, SSF, that afternoon, and the paper aisle was utterly bare. Wow! I was right to respond right away. Who would’ve thunk? I guess I wasn’t the only one to react to the news.
The next day, I realized I forgot to pick up power greens and headed back to Costco. I made a point to glance down the paper aisle and was stunned to find the paper aisle was nonexistent. I chuckled when I saw the mirror side of the aisle with the plenteous mounds of water. I couldn’t understand why people were hoarding water along with toilet paper last time. Good to know people did learn from the first wave.
I left the warehouse feeling a tremendous sense of gratitude that I covered my basics when I did, and I won’t need to be among the panic shoppers as the supplies continue to deplete. Hopefully, this wave won’t last too long because I am human, after all. I don’t want to be a panic shopper, but if push comes to shove, you may find me saying unconvincingly, “Panic? Who me?”