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.

I think this pandemic has changed me. I have always tried to help others. I have realised though how selfish most people are and feel very naive.
I have helped with lots of children's activities in the past as a volunteer. I am not doing it any more.
I wouldn't have formula or nappies anyway. I would still give to a food bank. But there has always been food available all through this. I probably would give loo rolls, but no to anything else. You can just buy something else instead. Nobody needs pasta for example.

My MIL was always prepped, when I first knew her the pantry was full of tins and long life stuff. She had lived through a war. We had to dispose of so much stuff when she went into a small apartment.

I was taken aback at how many people weren’t prepared at all given how dramatic the coverage of Italy was

In the same way that you say people take for granted that they shop any time. Maybe people who prep take for granted the fact they have the money and storage facilities to do so,

I know slot of people living pay check to pay check in very small flats who don’t have the space or money to stockpile stuff

A lot not slot

Next time... it may not be remotely the same scenario at all.

We may find that we should have prepared in other ways. Nobody knows what the future holds and nobody knows what we may or may not need to have prepared for in some future global disaster.

We won't know until the time comes, and no doubt when it does, there will be some people who have stockpiled factor 300 suncream, colt-45 bullets, water purification tablets, night vision goggles and Pot Noodles.

And they will come on here and gloat about it.

Also if everyone had just shopped normally we wouldn’t have run out in the bloody first place! It was fear and panic that caused it. There was always enough stuff. It was panic buying that caused the shortages. Did anyone see those horrible photos of bins overflowing with rotting food because people stupidly bought too much, couldn’t possibly eat all of it so threw it away? It was gross. Such a vile representation of gluttonous selfishness.

What I find the most difficult to understand is why so many americans went out and stocked up on guns and ammo. you cannot eat them.

you cannot eat them.

Guns and ammo or Americans?

I don't agree with stockpiling so won't be.

I was taken aback at how many people weren’t prepared at all given how dramatic the coverage of Italy was

Then you haven't cultivated an awareness of the world around you at all.

Some people live paycheque to paycheque. Some rely on benefits payments & shop when that comes in. Some people are mostly reliant on foodbanks. There are lots of people who can't afford to buy 2 weeks or 2 month's shopping in 1 go. Or indeed, don't have huge freezers or a big home with cupboard space.

I'm taken aback that you don't know this.

Also if everyone had just shopped normally we wouldn’t have run out in the bloody first place! It was fear and panic that caused it. There was always enough stuff. It was panic buying that caused the shortages.

On a smaller scale that happens every time we get more than an inch of snow. In my area anyway.

It will happen the next time, if there is one.

We just have to accept that there are enough of us selfish enough to take more than they need and cause disruption for everyone else, but at the other end off the scale thankfully, those who are altruistic enough to go out of their way to try to ensure the most vulnerable have what they need. Some bad, some good.

@crystaltipped

Yes, very true

Just in case it came down to looting, @justasking111. Maybe many of them were shop or restaurant owners or tradesmen with their own vans and tools. I have a friend who has thousands of dollars worth of tools in his van, and the garage he parks it in has been the target of thieves many times.
But of course some of them were just morons.

I had a little stockpile assembled because we had some terrible winter weather around here at the end of January last year (the Polar Vortex). Then Covid 19 came instead.

I would gladly share, and in fact offered anything my neighbours needed, and they in turn offered whatever they had to me. I would do it again regardless of our current experience, and I wouldn't expect anyone to change their habits or spend money they couldn't afford in order to have a stockpile in. I suspect there will be a lot of people unable to afford any extra expense once the dust settles this time.

We may find that we should have prepared in other ways. Nobody knows what the future holds and nobody knows what we may or may not need to have prepared for in some future global disaster.

We do know. Well, those of us with a modicum of intelligence, at least. After this we have Brexit coming. Are you still going to carry on pretending you didn't know that it was coming? There is going to be huge economic disruption. Are you still going to shrill that others who prepared are 'gloating' afterwards when there is little in the shops because the supply chains are fucked?

There actually was a shortage of toilet paper.
People who used TP in their workplaces and offices were forced home and the domestic demand rose. Commercial TP comes in big wheels, not handy home size rolls and in some areas commercial and domestic production was done by different companies. It took a while for manufacturers to increase domestic output and reduce commercial output, and supply arrangements had to be rejigged too - more trucks heading to supermarkets, more warehouse capacity to arrange...

Prepping buying ahead - keeping cupboards and the freezer stocked. Making sure you buy a little extra of what you need over a period of time.

stockpiling buying huge amounts of certain products, long before you need them.

panic buying buying what is left after all the stockpiling twats are done

@Haffiana This exactly. We do know, we have known for months that disruption to our supply chains is coming. Some, still choose to bury their head in the sand and then accuse those who have done some preperation (however small) of panic buying and clearing shelves.
You can choose to be proactive but dont start with the nastiness towards those who have had the foresight to squirrel away what little we can to help look after our family in the future. I for one am not relying on Boris et al to look after me and mine but,hey, you do you.

The government had to teach the country how to wash its hands. The next public service announcement looks to be a cartoon series on how to wipe our arses. 6 weeks in and still using stuff that was bought during a normal shop. What on earth do people do with toilet roll that they increase during a pandemic?

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.

This

Not everyone has an extra £50 to spare to buy extra. A significant percentage of the population in this country live month to month and pay cheque to pay cheque with hardly anything in between to spare.

I think from reading other threads it's being financially prepared too. So many posters have been amazed at how much crap they usually buy.

This can't be for everyone I know, but I think lots of people will try harder to live within their means and save more.

Stuff like Calpol is something I'd buy as needed.........I might keep a bottle in for emergencies but as we know that soon runs out. The people stockpiling it were pathetic.

Same goes for the other stuff they hoarded.

"I won’t be stockpiling or “prepping” because panic buying is the reason we had a shortage in the first place."

Eh? Which was it? Prepping, stockpiling or panic buying? They are three different things so that makes no sense whatsoever.

Prepping is the only thing to do if you want to avoid future panic buying. Preppers didn't need to go anywhere near the supermarkets for weeks while others stockpiled and panic bought.

I try to keep what we need plus one or two spare of essentials. DH is a JITer and I was very fed up of him telling me I had too many loaves of bread in the freezer or tins of beans. I am very much vindicated.

I'd like to hope that people remain compassionate towards people in need, whatever the circumstances.
We dont know whether they have not got supply because they struggle to get out, they have financial issues, or whether they had stock and couldn't restock as they required because of bad stock levels.

Those who are reliant on the food banks cant exactly stock up can they?

In my experience, events have demonstrated that, in this case, preppers and hoarders had it wrong. I didn't queue up for loo paper and pasta, nor did I have them piled up in place well in advance. I simply picked up what we needed when we needed it. When lockdown happened we only had about two week's supply of loo paper. Sure enough, supplies stabilised pretty quickly and I've had no difficulty since lockdown.