Panic buyers

[Idliketoteachtheworldtosing1]

Aibu to think that it's damn ridiculous the way people have been panic buying?
Personally I think that all the supermarkets should take a leaf out of our co ops book and allow one 6 pint per person! Yes it caused a few rows but surely that is the fair way when stocks are running low.
It's always milk and bread, some people are so selfish and buy ridiculous amounts of the stuff.
It drives me mad.

@pinkvoid, why do you think that everyone was preparing for an avalanche? maybe a lot of people just bought one or two extra loaves to see them over the three day period when they (correctly) anticipated that there would be problems with deliveries and there would be a shortage? Or should have they went without so you didnt have to?

@saoirse thats mn mentality for you, although i think recently its been getting worse. You arent selfish, just buying what you need for your children. Maybe people were pissed that they didnt get the bread/milk they needed but thats not your fault or your problem, no matter how much they say it was.

It's my job to feed my children, not worry about yours

I'm trying to find that chip and that shame but no luck, saoirsesoige. I won't engage with you after this, I think you have a difficult life as it is by the sound of it so good luck to you. We will leave it at that.

did you not read that was in reponse to? It IS my job to feed my children, and was in response to being told I should let mine go hungry so someone else could have it after me.
In all honesty, would you do that?

Thank you @hairycoo, nice to see a sane person!

To the person who said we would never cope with rationing -- this is exactly why we had to bring in rationing. Because the completely rational (and sensible!) reaction to an unreliable supply of food is to buy as much as possible while it's available, not to do as people do now and buy enough for two days because they plan to be back at the shops in that time anyway. If you don't know when you're going to be able to get more of a thing, you get what you can when you can, because if you leave it on the shelf you might be hungry and the person behind you who is stockpiling won't be. The person who planned to go back in two days was always GOING to go without so there's no point in protecting them.

So, in a longer term shortage situation the ONLY way to cope is with some kind of higher oversight, be that from the government or individual shops limiting what you can buy. Thankfully we're not currently in that situation.

I've lived with rationing in another country. Of course we could cope with it here. A bit grim and a lot of food bought and sold outside this system but you still cope with it.
This empty shelf stuff is simply in the nature of Just In Time retail.
If we had a different reality to deal with, we'd deal.

Medical issues or small children aside, it’s not going to be a dire emergency and people aren’t going to go hungry for not being able to buy a week’s worth of bread and milk in one go. There’s plenty of other things to eat.

A way to cope is not necessarily with government oversight. Do sensible prepping and growing your own food . As I said, might be a bit less exciting on the palate but plenty of people in rural communities do it as a matter of course.

This thread is a bit bonkers. why can't people see that it wasn't people buying hundreds of pints of milk for themselves and clearing the shelves but that in this sort of situation the supplies can't get through and so the shelves empty rapidly. All it takes is for people to buy two loaves instead of one (hardly panic buying) and very quickly there are shortages because of the way the food deliveries work in this country.

We have three days worth of food in the supermarkets. Thats it.

I'm genuinely worried that if people are so unprepared they are really going to suffer when Brexit happens. The predicted impact on the food supply chain is massive. Anyone with any sense will have one eye on that and be thinking about how they can minimise the impact for their family.

Agree user. Don't want to get into Brexit issues (do so with gusto on other threads) but it is simply a feature of our Just In Time supply at supermarkets.
Get a box of powdered milk. Learn about reusable nappies and sanitary towels (don't have to go that route but just learn about it). Try growing spuds. Try sprouting beans. Check your torches work.
Bingo. You are already ahead.

I just went to buy a loaf of bread as we have none for toast for breakfast tomorrow - I also wanted some apples.

Ransacked shelves, no bread, no apples .

I was forced to buy hot cross buns and oranges instead - DD was delighted.

Ransacked? Really. Don't think so. Empty, maybe.

Re milk, it's definitely due to problems in the supply chain. I live surrounded by dairy farms and was chatting to one of the farmers this morning. They said they were the only farm within 10 miles that got its milk out on Thurs/Fri and that was at 2am. The rest had to pour the milk away and will not be paid for it. In addition the milking machinery kept freezing and a calf died of hypothermia.
So Saturday would have been the first milk collection in 3 days and I guess it takes time to fill the chain again. Hopefully by tomorrow things will improve.

Matey, all of which is a tragedy for farmers with tight margins. We don't think enough about them.
Not really for shoppers who can cope without milk or use powdered. Or store some soya or almond milk.

YANBU, I trudged to the shop through the driving snow on Thursday and there were two lonely pints left in the fridge.

I bought one, because I'm not a dick.

I went to Aldi last Wednesday evening. The shop was empty and the shelves were full!

The streets were dead on Thursday when the weather was at its worst here. No one in the shops, no one in the cafe and no one at the park.

This is north west London.

people aren’t going to go hungry for not being able to buy a week’s worth of bread and milk in one go. There’s plenty of other things to eat

But if a person walks into a shop and CAN buy their weeks worth of bread and milk in one go, why should they not? As you say, there are plenty of other things they can eat if they didn't get to the shops before it all sold out.
So no problem then.

I always make sure I have a stock of food at home. If I panic buy then I have failed.

There is a thin veneer of civilization. Events such as this prove that society will break down very quickly when a serious situation breaks out.

The point that I made long ago that seems to be missed is this: What might look like panic buying to you is just shopping to someone else. I just mentioned this thread to my sister on the phone, she told me that her friend was sworn at by a woman in a shop last week right before the worst of the weather hit. Her crime was buying appro 10 loaves of bread and similar of milk, as well as multiples of other things. She is a carer and was buying lists of shopping for some of her vulnerable clients and delivering to them, unpaid on her own time!

Clearly the vicious harpies on here would be calling her entitled selfish bitch though, because they can't see past the end of their noses.

We are a nation of selfish, greedy gluttons

I'm sure I saw some nutters selling milk and bread for ludicrous sums on my local Facebook group, but I can't find evidence now. There wasn't even much disruption here. Maniacs!

We are a nation of unprepared people. Don't think we are all gluttons. It's really neither hard nor expensive to get some just in case food/supplies in stock.
And to have a think about what you would do if stuff you rely on suddenly wasn't readily available. No need to go mad - just have a think.

“Vicious harpies”
Nuff said

I'm sure I saw some nutters selling milk and bread for ludicrous sums on my local Facebook group, but I can't find evidence now. There wasn't even much disruption here. Maniacs!

I have seen this before, the general view from people who also saw it was it was a good thing as perhaps it will teach people to be more organized.