Subj : Re: Hording toilet paper?
To   : Bj?rn Felten
From : Mike Powell
Date : Sun Mar 03 2024 10:22:11

 > Lee Lofaso -> Bj?rn Felten skrev 2024-03-02 19:28:
 >  LL> What is there to clean up? Oops. Forget I said that. Not all
 >  LL> participants have graduated to using bidets.

 >    That last comment has actually intrigued me for a long time. Whenever
 > there is an emergency in the US, the first thing that they go for is toilet
 > paper! Why? Why is it the most important thing, to be able to wipe your ass
 > with paper? What about water and food? Or even batteries? Get your effin
 > priorities straight FFS!


They hoarded multiple things at the beginning of COVID.  Toilet paper was a big
deal because there apparently was a shortage.  Baby formula (i.e. food) was
another that experienced hoarding that was amplified by shortages.  Locally,
there were shortages of other commodities -- crackers, for example, were
imported from Puerto Rico -- that didn't make the news.

Some foods, like milk, are perishable and cannot be hoarded for long.  Toilet
paper is not perishable.

Toilet paper actually makes some sense.  If you live in a house with a family
that was mostly out of the house during the day 5 days a week, and they are
suddenly in the house all day during that time (because offices and schools
were all closed) toilet paper is a commodity that will go up in demand in that
particular house.  

Food would, too, but if most members of the family packed their lunches at home
and took them to work/school, presumably the food was accounted for as only the
location of where they consumed lunch changed.  Also bear in mind that, while
grocery chains limited shopping hours (and small stores were forced to close),
most restaurant chains were able to stay open by offering drive-thru, drive-up,
and delivery services, making food more readily available.

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