AIBU to think people will be less tolerant of those who are unprepared next time?

[NoSoapAndGory]

In mid March, as the shop stock plummeted just before lockdown was announced, our local parent FaceBook groups etc were full of "I've tried all shops with no luck - where can I get Calpol / Paracetamol / Nappies / Tampax / pasta / toilet roll' etc.

For every post, there was at least one person offered to help or share - usually more.

Are people now expected to behave differently as supplies are stabilising? Do you think people will be so accommodating the next time we have an emergency, or will you be considered foolish not to have prepared in some way if you were able to?*

*Obviously not including people who can't afford to buy spares or basics.

Who cares what 'People' think? I wasn't prepared to the hilt I got what I could, when I could. No fuss. I can't imagine worrying what 'People' would think about that. & I doubt majority would be that bothered or interested anyway. Not that their tolerance levels make a difference to anything at all. If these 'People' are aiming to cover themselves in glory by looking down on us unprepared mere mortals then great, crack on with that feel good factor whatever floats your boat as they say.

My mother warned me early on in my independent life never let your toilet roll supply run down. It took 30 years for her advice to pay off but she was right. I am the same with tampons and sanitary towels. Anything else I can manage without.

No i won't be stockpiling in the future, or "prepping".

My late father had been buying extra loo roll for years
I thought it was sensible, mum thought it was mad but now she understands

I live alone so always have stuff in case I’m ill but it’s a small flat so prepping options are limited.

The mistake I made with this was not having enough chocolate!

I think there are people who will always help when they can, regardless of the context or if the people asking for it ‘should be prepared’.

There will also be those who think people get themselves into their own situation and it’s up to them to get out of it.

I don’t think the pandemic will change either of those types of people.

Also how could you possibly prepare for something like this happening again? Always have everything you could possibly need for a pandemic you need stocked up in your house just in case, for a number of years? It’s just not possible for everyone. Not all of us have the cash and storage or headspace to manage that.

I was one of the helpers

This has put me off tbh.

I think very differently - the people who decided to stockpile right at the start were the ones who caused the shortages.
If everyone had carried on as normal with regard to their shopping, there would never have been the problems there were.
As far as helping others goes, if someone locally needed something they couldn't get, and I had plenty, I'd share.

No most people are decent enough and happy to help someone who needs calpol or tampons or nappies regardless of the reason why they don’t have them.

Anyone gloating about someone suffering from 'not being prepared' wouldn't be a very nice person.

Lilac it is not possible to stockpile enough chocolate. Because the more one has the more one has to eat

Pineapple “ No i won't be stockpiling in the future, or "prepping".

I’m really sorry to be that poster, but they are very different things.

Stand yes, I suppose that’s a risk 😂

I managed not to go anywhere except the greengrocers for the first 2 weeks, but it was lack of chocolate that meant I ended up going to a newsagent. I was lucky they were open really.

I agree with @mineofuselessinformation

People stripping the shelves contributed to it all, and then people like me who didn't have chance to get to the shops at the right time, and have a limited choice of shops anyway, couldn't get any. In turn after going almost a week without toilet roll (not an experience I wish to repeat with a finicky teen in the house) I then bought more than I would normally when I finally got my hands on some. While using that the shop I use has pretty much gone back to normal now so I'm buying as normal.

Most people don’t have the space or the cash to buy a few extra every month,and even packaged foods go out of date as does paracetamol/calpol.

And anyone who smugly announced that they had prepared and wouldn’t help is a twat.

NoSoapAndGory

The blame or guilt if any should be laid at the feet of those that stripped the shelves.

If you are going to pass blame around at least do it to those that deserve it.

The blame or guilt if any should be laid at the feet of those that stripped the shelves

Completely agree. I wonder how much of the food bought in the last fortnight in March got thrown away or is still languishing in freezers. Hopefully supermarkets will have learnt from this and start limiting the amount people can buy very quickly in a similar emergency situation.

I certainly think that I will be more of a peeper in the future.
I don't know how this will impact on how tolerant people.
Iam always happy to help people, even if they are the sort of person who is always a step away from disaster etc.
As long as I just give what I can afford to give. (tangibly and emotionally)

“ And anyone who smugly announced that they had prepared and wouldn’t help is a twat.”

I should be clear, I offered to send sanitary towels to a poster on here, that’s still something I’d do in future.

But with limited space to prep, if I thought this would happen again and the stockpiling frenzy might happen again, I’d probably say to any neighbours asking to ask someone who’s likely to have more and then come back to me if no luck.

I had one pack of paracetamol and gave that away but realised later that ibuprofen wasn’t recommende, so that was silly of me.

I suppose a lot of this is massive house vs studio flat. Perhaps my definition of prep is not at all what anyone here was thinking - sorry if I muddled things.

Daphne “ I certainly think that I will be more of a peeper in the future”

I think we’ve got enough curtain twitchers 😂

YABU
I bought extra.
I’m not ashamed to admit it. I was in a position to do it and I had an inkling that there were tough times ahead at the end of January. I’m certainly not judging those who didn’t see it coming as early as I did or who were able to buy a bit extra as I did.
We went away for half term week.
I bought an extra pack of loo roll, sanitary pads and tampons, some paracetamol and calpol, an extra 1kg of pasta a couple of extra jars of sauce the week before we went away - so that was in the first week of February.
It was at least a week after we came home that any shortages became apparent.
Should I apologise for being vigilant and acting on my concerns ahead of the general population?

much that’s not stockpiling in my book.

I forgot to say that I have helped family and friends who didn’t have what they needed where I have been able to - for example loo rolls to the in laws who came home from holiday just before lockdown and paracetamol to a colleague who has tested positive in the past week.

It’s not a huge amount, I agree. But it was in addition to what I would have bought without the news from China. Blame has been placed on people just buying a bit extra than normal for the shortages.
We always have pretty well stocked cupboards and freezer but if things became unavailable for more than a few weeks we would struggle.

I was prepared - I just ate what was left of my brexit stash....

Some people cannot afford to prep or stock up. So many families literally live hand to mouth month by month.
Others rely on food banks. How do they prep?