Think panic buyers/prepares are both smug and selfish

[Coffeeandgin24]

The scenes from supermarkets have been shocking, you even have people on Facebook and here showing off about how much food they have. What about people that can’t afford to or don’t have space.
What a horrible greedy society we live in.

[RedToothBrush]

Things I have bought at the supermarket in the past three weeks.

Milk, bread, cheese, bread rolls (all normal quantities)
2 jars of Mayonnaise
Tube of tomato paste
Walnuts and pine nuts to make my own pesto
3 bags of desiccated coconut (for brewing it was on offer)
6 packs of mini rolls (they were half price)
10 packs of onion rings
10 packs of bacon frazzles
Chocolate
Fresh chicken
A jar of garlic
Mixed herbs
Two tubes of Toothpaste (on a two for one offer)
Shampoo and conditioner (2 shampoo and 1 conditioner on a 3 for 2 offer)
More chocolate

I get veg delivered.

Aisles I have avoided - tins, pasta and rice.

I'll take the smug accusation on the chin to an extent. I'm not struggling to buy anything.

I saw this coming and made sure that I'd got things in before there was an issue restocking shelves. In terms of supply and demand I bought when demand did not outstrip supply deliberately to avoid contributing to a problem that was highly predicable to anyone watching it play out around the world.

The problem isn't in supply atm for most products - it's just restocking shelves.

I have not got excessive amounts of anything. I don't have anything like long life milk nor spam. Just things I'd normally buy.

I got into the habit of bulk buying certain things in one supermarket one week and then going to a different one the next and buying certain products there after all the Brexit stuff. It's worked out cheaper, more convenient and just generally easier so I kept doing it.

I don't quite know why I have to have other people's approval for shopping in a sensible way to deliberately avoid trying to contribute to shortages.

I'm not however going to share with the entire neighbourhood. Ultimately I've bought what I need but not got a huge amount spare, especially in view of the panicking which isn't clear when it will end. It's not my responsibility to bail out everyone. I'll help others within reason.

The issue lies with supermarkets who right up to when panic buying started had deliberately started to ramp up anxiety and exploit it with strategically placed end of aisle displays of hand sanitisers, hand wash, anti bat wipes and tissues like my local Tesco had. These are psychologically analysed displays based on customer buying patterns, demand and general knowledge / culture. The supermarkets could have restricted / managed demand a lot sooner but it suits them to have helped facilitate a panic. It amazed me to see a 2 for £2 offer on antibac wipes just days before it all kicked off. I didn't need any but it did make me think that the supermarkets were trying to push certain buttons and then are trying to play innocent when it all went crazy.

Aside from all this though can someone explain why it's okay to be self righteous and pompous about how they haven't prepped whilst simultaneously condemning those who have tried to be sensible as smug?

The key point is to consider how your actions affect others and don't be a dick rather than casting judgement against others who have made different choices about when and how they've shopped.

[TorysSuckRevokeArticle50]

I prepped for Brexit. As a result I have been leaving the toiletries, loo roll, pasta and such alone.

The only thing I've been buying the last few weeks is fresh fruit, veg, meat and dairy to make sure we have a full fridge and veg basket.

Panic buying is selfish

Prepping happened months ago and impacted no one.

[LolaSmiles]

The key point is to consider how your actions affect others and don't be a dick rather than casting judgement against others who have made different choices about when and how they've shopped
I agree.
I can't be bothered with smugness over how people do their shopping.

[RedToothBrush]

Oh can I freeze leeks?
Can I freeze carrots in the same way ? Cauliflower?

Yes. You can freeze most veg. Just prep it as soon as you get and freeze.

I get my veg direct from a local producer. No middle man. I've bought tubs which I reuse for the freezer. I chop and freeze so it keeps longer and so I can have things slightly out if season. It means less waste, less miles, money goes direct to farmer.

Altogether a more environmental way (both locally and on a whole scale) to do things and it supports my local producer better too.

You have to slightly adjust how you cook it if you do it straight from frozen and remember it has a higher water content. Usually it just takes a little longer. It's not great for every recipe but as a general way of doing things it's really handy for cooking on a nightly basis as you've already done half your prep and you can have more variety in all the time.

[Foobydoo]

I have never prepped in my life before however, I could see how things were unfolding.
For the past 6 weeks I have bought an extra pack of loo roll one uht milk and, few extra tins or pack of pasta. I have spent less that ten pounds extra each week.
I haven't needed to buy toilet rolls for the last two weeks, they were available last week but could see that people were starting to panic so I didn't buy any to leave more for others. There are none available near me this week so it is a good job I planned ahead.
Prepping and panic buyers are opposites. Preppers slowly prep so they never need to panic buy.

[HomerSimpsonSmilingPolitely]

If everyone was a prepping then no one would have panic bought anything and the shop supplies would be at the normal level. So I don't agree that preppers are selfish at all. That make a no sense.

[borntobequiet]

Anti bat wipes sound useful. I have bats. But I like them, and they don’t come close enough to infect me with bat viruses, thank goodness.

[RedToothBrush]

Anti bat wipes sound useful. I have bats. But I like them, and they don’t come close enough to infect me with bat viruses, thank goodness.

😂

Maybe if China had had them....

[DitheringDoris]

As so many people have already said, preppers and panic buyers are completely different.

I don’t blame people for panic buying, it seems there’s not much faith in the government to look after us so people are looking after themselves and their families. I’m not talking about people who buy 100 loo rolls but people who have done enough shopping to last them 2-3 weeks.

I started buying extra in January when reports started coming out of China and did a massive shop 3 weeks ago because I knew it was coming our way. Im neither smug or selfish, I’m looking out for my family. People need to take responsibility for themselves and think ahead so that they are prepared.