Does this make me a panic buyer or just a sensible person doing what's necessary?

[GreatPotato]

I fed up of hearing that people who are concerned they won't have the fuel they need are "panic buyers" and somehow unreasonable.

I have enough fuel to last me the week. I have a long drive planned for the weekend. Usually I'd fill up on my way out on Saturday morning. In the current circumstances either that may not be possible or it will require queuing and possibly visiting a number of petrol stations.

So, I need to plan ahead and "panic" by trying to get some now.

It's a massive problem that people think, "well, I womt have to get more next week so they'll be extra for others then. I'm not actually making the problem worse". But all those people who couldn't get fuel when they needed it because if the "just a little extra" people, will buy more too. And so many people are buying even more having Jerry cans that when it comes time for the first load of folk to full up again, the panic hasn't calmed down and they then buy more all over again.

But people just dont think. The brazen "we wouldnt normally and we dont actually need it but we filled up" brigade are the problem. But if it goes on for long enough, more and more people turn into that because of panic.

Everyone needs to just chill the fuck out.

I managed to fill up my car before it all really kicked off last week.

DH had about 100 miles left in his truck which would usually be fine, but he has to take my old pony to the horsepital on Friday for a scan so he filled up last night. Depending on what they find he’ll bring her home on Friday, or she might have to stay a few days and he’ll have to go back and pick her up.

She’s lame and has been on box rest and pain relief for the last 4 weeks and we can’t make any decisions on her future or treatment until she’s had the scan so there’s no chance I’m going to risk not getting her there, or being able to pick her up so he filled up while he could. If he has to leave her and go back to get her, 2 round trips will take a whole tank and diesel supply here was a bit hit and miss before all this started

I think we need to have another word for “panic buying” because as it is loads od people are getting indignant about “panic buyers” while not realising that they are panic buyers themselves!

I don’t know what a good name would be?

Contingency buyers?
Just-in-case buyers?
Erring on the safe side buyers?

At this point, I'm not sure people buying from now would count as 'panic buyers'...

The real panic buyers were the people who, well, panicked with the media reports of closed petrol stations and possible shortages and topped up a nearly full tank.

Sensible people who had enough for the mileage they do to last a few days, waited. My DM has about 100 miles left in the tank so is still waiting as she drives 30-50 miles a week. Her boss has been a bit daft and waited (simply couldn't be bothered queuing), and now one of his vans is completely out, the other is nearly out... which means they'll struggle to get to jobs at this point. The queues are so bad I don't think anyone wants to sit in them, so they must actually need the fuel, which isn't panic buying.

Hopefully we'll get to the stage where it'll even out naturally. It's not like the panic buying last year where people were greedy and bought too much food - which a week later was filling wheelie bins in the papers There's a finite amount (almost) of fuel that people can buy, and no one is going to waste it just to they can sit in a queue for an hour or more?