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#41 |
The Clarity Is Devastating
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Betwixt
Posts: 17,293
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More likely it's because this coming full moon is Rubbing Day, a South Coast New England tradition begun by a rogue splinter sect of Swedenborgians who settled in the North Dartmouth-Hixville area in the late 1600s while everyone else was too distracted by King Philip's War to send cats to chase them out. You'd think the local pharmacies would be used to it by now, and know to stock up extra rubbing alcohol, but no, inventory management is handled by Corporate off in Roswell or Chattanooga, who are ignorant of our local values. So every year it's "where did all the isopropanol and clean towels go?" and "verily, the Red Sox have traded away all their good players again." (The latter has nought to do with Rubbing Day but happens at the same time of year.) We don't cotton to the making of nerve gases until after the Midmaymonth June-bug festival in early August. |
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A zømbie once bit my sister... |
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#42 |
a flimsy character...perfidious and despised
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: People's Democratic Republic of Planet X
Posts: 39,673
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Or it could be that they're mixing it with hand lotion to create a sanitizer substitute. But I think your explanation is more likely.
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If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set. "...just as a magnet attracts iron filings, "[shemp is] a most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality." - Shakespeare |
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#43 |
Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Waiting for the pod bay door to open.
Posts: 42,986
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Two supermarkets checked, both out of toilet paper. It's a sign of the end times.
At least this will give The Walking Dead writers some ideas. The heavily armed fortress run by a psychopath that has the all the world's remaining stocks of toilet paper stored inside it. |
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Continually pushing the boundaries of mediocrity. Everything is possible, but not everything is probable. “Perception is real, but the truth is not.” - Imelda Marcos |
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#44 |
a flimsy character...perfidious and despised
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: People's Democratic Republic of Planet X
Posts: 39,673
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If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set. "...just as a magnet attracts iron filings, "[shemp is] a most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of no one good quality." - Shakespeare |
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#45 |
The Grammar Tyrant
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 27,955
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The point of equilibrium has passed; satire and current events are now indistinguishable. |
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#46 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Port Townsend, Washington
Posts: 30,675
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I was in an Office Max store today. They had TP. And other products not related to their core business.
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Cum catapultae proscribeantur tum soli proscripti catapultas habeant. |
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#47 |
![]() Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Monkey
Posts: 58,985
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I think they've always sold TP. And snacks. I think it's so businesses can buy that kind of stuff on the same order as more officey-type supplies. I like the weird aisle of clearly-not-for-regular-people stuff, where they sell things like timeclock punchcards and universal HR forms for firing someone, and rolls of raffle tickets.
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You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara. |
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#48 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 20,184
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Just to chime in with a single data point from Canada (Toronto, more or less). I regularly shop at two supermarkets. One is one of the big chain stores and the other is a discount store (though actually owned by one of the big chain stores). The first I went to today had a sale on TP, paper towel and tissues at some pretty good discounts (as much as 50%). There were a few holes in the shelves but everything was available. I actually stocked up because of the prices. The second store did not have a sale on anything and the shelves were almost empty.
If I understood what was actually happening, I sure I would be very rich. ![]() |
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"Reality is what's left when you cease to believe." Philip K. Dick |
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#49 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 5,293
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Like many Americans I have 3 jobs. One of them is at a big box store.
We've been out of masks for over a week, which really irritates people who work with chemicals or in dusty/moldy environments. It occurred to me earlier today while reading articles that I see foreign places with people wearing them uniformly. Skipping past that you should wear it if you're sick, not the other way around (granted it can help retain "don't touch face" awareness), where have all the masks gone? Sitting on a box in the basement "just for a minute while I find a spot..."? I've not seen one being worn. Not. One. |
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#50 |
Gentleman of leisure
Tagger
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Flying around in the sky
Posts: 26,423
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I think these should be rationed to people who need them. Like prescription only. I did see a mother with her two children on the bus today wearing them. One of the children had taken her off in the bus, thus making it useless. Worse they were obviously not wearing them properly as I could see holes where air could get into the mouth without going through the mask. I did want to say to the mother "If your children are sick they should at home. If they are not sick they should not be wearing a mask." But I have more sense than that to do so.
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This signature is for rent. |
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#51 |
Suspended
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 19,688
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#52 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Leicester Square, London
Posts: 8,090
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We were almost out of toilet paper yesterday, and I was a bit embarrassed about going to the shop to buy some as I thought people might think I was stockpiling. In the end I just went to my local mini-market and bought a a 4-pack (no sign of any shortage there) and it was fine.
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#53 |
Maledictorian
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 14,406
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Since people are already hoarding all the non-perishables, I've decided to buy up all the perishable goods.
I'll sell them at a huge mark-up in a month or two. |
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Ceterum autem censeo fox et amicis esse delendam. |
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#54 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 12,917
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Audiophile/biker/sceptic |
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#55 |
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Jun 2012
Posts: 12,917
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For our weekly major supermarket delivered shop, all the cheap toilet paper was gone, but it was still easy to get other toilet paper. The little local shop, where even the cheap stuff is quite expensive, has always had a supply.
Panic appears to have a price ceiling, after which people calm down. |
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Audiophile/biker/sceptic |
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#56 |
Lackey
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: South East, UK
Posts: 96,145
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Is it really panic buying or is it earlier than usual buying?
I think what has happened is that the media started talking about toilet paper and one or two people bulk buying and then when folk were out shopping they thought "oh I don't need any this week, but I'll pick up a pack while I am here". With how our supermarkets are stocked (which is based on a certain forecasted amount being sold in a particular week) it doesn't take many "one pack early" to completely empty the shelves. |
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I wish I knew how to quit you |
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#57 |
Skeptical about skeptics
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: 31°57'S 115°57'E
Posts: 16,880
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This is not unlike the baby formula saga. Because people in China are willing to pay a fortune for Australian baby formula, people raid the supermarkets of all the baby formula they can find and flog it to the Chinese.
It didn't mean that I had to stock up on 6 month's supply. I just needed to keep my eyes open and pick up an extra tin whenever I saw one. I never went more than a couple of weeks without seeing one so we did ok. I'm pretty sure that if I deal with toilet paper in the same way (I found a 4 pack today after waiting for 2 weeks) then I won't end up having to use my hands. ![]() There isn't really a TP shortage. The TP manufacturers are having a field day ramping up production. |
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"The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled. Where something so important is involved, a deeper mystery seems only decent." - Galbraith, 1975 |
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#58 |
Skeptical about skeptics
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: 31°57'S 115°57'E
Posts: 16,880
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"The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled. Where something so important is involved, a deeper mystery seems only decent." - Galbraith, 1975 |
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#59 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Leicester Square, London
Posts: 8,090
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#60 |
Director of Hatcheries and Conditioning
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: Waiting for the pod bay door to open.
Posts: 42,986
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__________________
Continually pushing the boundaries of mediocrity. Everything is possible, but not everything is probable. “Perception is real, but the truth is not.” - Imelda Marcos |
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#61 |
Skeptical about skeptics
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: 31°57'S 115°57'E
Posts: 16,880
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"The process by which banks create money is so simple that the mind is repelled. Where something so important is involved, a deeper mystery seems only decent." - Galbraith, 1975 |
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#62 |
Lackey
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: South East, UK
Posts: 96,145
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I wish I knew how to quit you |
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#63 | |||
Penultimate Amazing
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 13,302
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Maybe you can use it to mummify the casualties - or their houses.
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/dann "Stupidity renders itself invisible by assuming very large proportions. Completely unreasonable claims are irrefutable. Ni-en-leh pointed out that a philosopher might get into trouble by claiming that two times two makes five, but he does not risk much by claiming that two times two makes shoe polish." B. Brecht "The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions." K. Marx |
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#64 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Sep 2007
Posts: 7,328
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Just an FYI in Southfield MI, a suburb of Detroit, I went into a beer store to get some beer, and they were selling the $1.79 bottles of hand sanitizer for $14.99 / bottle.
It was Costco brand, so I'm guessing much of the bulk buying at Costco was by small businesses hoping to cash in on the scare. |
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"I dont call that evolution, I call that the survival of the fittest." - Bulletmaker "I thought skeptics would usually point towards a hoax rather than a group being duped." - makaya325 Kit is not a skeptic. He is a former Bigfoot believer that changed his position to that of non believer.- Crowlogic |
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#65 |
Philosopher
Join Date: Mar 2012
Location: Rochester, NY
Posts: 5,186
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The company I work for sells hand sanitizer in 1 gallon bottles and 55 gallon drums (we sell to food processing plants and institutional settings, not to consumers). The products are manufactured by another company which then applies our labels, because our manufacturing facility doesn't have FDA certification. We were recently told that the increased demand would result in an 8 week delay on any future orders. |
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#66 |
Graduate Poster
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Posts: 1,269
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I think people are panic buying toilet paper because they think that all the other idiots panic buying toilet paper will leave none for them.
After the panic has died down, everybody will be left with a mountain of toilet paper which will cause demand to slump and many manufacturers will find their business in the toilet. |
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#67 |
No Punting
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Not In Follansbee
Posts: 4,058
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This is pretty much it.
It starts probably with the rumor that there will be a shortage, which sets off this where even normal people buy as much as possible because they figure friends and family might need it. There is no better way to get people to buy five of something than to set a limit of five per customer. So even limits can backfire a bit. |
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#68 |
![]() Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Monkey
Posts: 58,985
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At least toilet paper doesn't go bad over time.
Does it?!?! |
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You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara. |
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#69 |
Maledictorian
Join Date: Aug 2016
Posts: 14,406
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Ceterum autem censeo fox et amicis esse delendam. |
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#70 |
JREF Kid
Tagger
Join Date: Aug 2001
Posts: 8,223
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I've stocked up because the shelves are emptying, and I'd hate to run out before the madness has ended. There's no need to stock up on bog roll because of the coronavirus, but stocking up because of the coronavirus-fuelled shortage of bog roll seems sensible.
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"Faith without doubt leads to moral arrogance, the eternal pratfall of the religiously convinced" - Joe Klein, Time magazine "The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown." - Carl Sagan |
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#71 |
Great minds think...
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: North Dakota
Posts: 8,389
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Amazon Subscribe and Save, my TP shows up on my doorstep every month without me having to leave my house. Though, it would be ****** if we ran out.
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"Circumcision and death threats go together like milk and cookies." - William Parcher “There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind.” - Patrick Rothfuss |
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#72 |
Lackey
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: South East, UK
Posts: 96,145
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I wish I knew how to quit you |
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#73 |
Lackey
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: South East, UK
Posts: 96,145
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I wish I knew how to quit you |
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#74 |
Great minds think...
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: North Dakota
Posts: 8,389
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__________________
"Circumcision and death threats go together like milk and cookies." - William Parcher “There are times when the mind is dealt such a blow it hides itself in insanity. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind.” - Patrick Rothfuss |
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#75 |
Lackey
Administrator
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: South East, UK
Posts: 96,145
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I wish I knew how to quit you |
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#76 |
No longer the 1
Join Date: Apr 2007
Posts: 23,490
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As human right is always something given, it always in reality reduces to the right which men give, "concede," to each other. If the right to existence is conceded to new-born children, then they have the right; if it is not conceded to them, as was the case among the Spartans and ancient Romans, then they do not have it. For only society can give or concede it to them; they themselves cannot take it, or give it to themselves. |
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#77 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Dec 2002
Posts: 4,747
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Went for regular grocery shopping today at Wegmans, a multi-state corporation. TP was out. No matter as we usually buy enough. What sucked is alcohol preps and bottles of rubbing alcohol were out and had signs up for limits. I got two small boxes of the alcohol preps at Walmart. The last two! Both my mother and I have insulin for DMII.
I noticed all the Wegmans brand bleach was gone but there was plenty of brand named bleach there. I guess the Covid-19 apocalypse isn't worth the extra buck or two for those. There was however plenty of soap available. |
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"Such reports are usually based on the sighting of something the sighters cannot explain and that they (or someone else on their behalf) explain as representing an interstellar spaceship-often by saying "But what else can it be?" as though thier own ignorance is a decisive factor." Isaac Asimov |
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#78 |
![]() Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Monkey
Posts: 58,985
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The solution to two panics is to combine them so they cancel out:
Corona virus is spread by purchasing toilet paper. Put that on Facebook and watch the supply chains normalize. You're welcome, world! |
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You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara. |
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#79 |
The Grammar Tyrant
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 27,955
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__________________
The point of equilibrium has passed; satire and current events are now indistinguishable. |
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#80 |
Illuminator
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: the wet side of the mountains
Posts: 3,541
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I'm fairly annoyed by these idiots. I don't panic-buy things, so if shelves are still being stripped by the time we run out of our current Costco pack, I'll be very unhappy.
And why is there a run on hand sanitizer but not on soap? It's more effective. You don't need gallons of hand sanitizer if you're washing your hands and using sanitizer as a backup when water isn't available. |
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