General Chat

I am finding iti hard to understand the greed & selfish attitude of people panic buying.
OH went shopping in Sainsburys & most of the shelves were empty of pasta, tinned goods, toilet rolls etc. Loads of bread & milk. if everyone did their normal shop there would be enough for all.
Morrisons have started to restrict certain items but what is to stop people going round twice?
Are we going back to cutting up newspapers for loo roll?
Madness!

I make bread regularly, just checked my delivery for tomorrow and there is zero strong bread flour.

Zero - basmati rice (in the quantities I use), Zero pasta (hubby makes it so need 00 flour) none of that either. Eggs in short supply, long life milk etc., etc.,

I do have large food stock but that is absolutely normal for me, I have mobility problems so rarely go shopping in person.

I am so pleased I'm not shopping for a large family - that would be a nightmare.

I am part of a huge online group of people with bowel disease, loo paper isn't a luxury and some are really panicking.

You have the vile celeb (I use that word loosely) Gemma Collins who posted on social media her massive haul of toilet paper and despair!!

Some people's greed and selfishness is astounding!
All those people who unwrap their loo paper and display it around their toilets, in a 'look what I've got' attitude, just to post a picture - I just hope they close their toilet seat before flushing, or all that toilet paper will be covered in toilet plume.
Whilst this is unlikely to be a major health risk (though we don't know about coronavirus), just the thought of tiny particles of poo and wee on the paper, which will sit there for months, is rather stomach churning.

Many of us on this site are children of parents who went through the war. They planned ahead and if possible kept a few tins in readiness for emergencies.
My mum could always always dip into her cupboard and conjure up a meal for unexpected visitors. I too don't buy, 'just for today' and we could probably cope for a week or so from tins and packets we already have.
I haven't and won't be buying extra in the present crisis, but will buy, hopefully, when I have a need.
I fully understand that some people live week to week on a very limited budget, but there would surely be supplies for most people, if others didn't panic buy.

what is worrying is that half the stuff they have bought in a panic will probably never be used and will be binned after the use by date, regardless of whether it would actually be ok to use. And I wonder if all those buying extra strong flour bought it because there was no ordinary flour ans really have no use for it. There really are some very selfish people around.

Maggie, you made me laugh. Now thinking 'Toilet paper as a work of art!'
:-D :-D :-D

Just as bad as those who photograph the food on their plates. What's that all about then? :-S

one up manship.....
I seem to recall a few years ago,

it appeared to be symbolised by how many pages were in your "Filofax"

A lettuce leaf and mash with a sausage sticking out of it!

Defo feeling superior here as I sit dipping my biccy in my coffee ..... :-D :-D :-D

Reminds me of the stupidity of some who panic buy
for Christmas.
Many years ago while shopping for vegetables ie Brussel Sprouts
a woman elbowed me out of the way to get to them, there were boxes
of them so plenty for everyone.
Naturally I elbowed her back calling her a stupid woman.
A man looked at me and agreed saying " Yes I know she's my wife."

I met an old workmate in Sainsbury's yesterday - she'd found the last bottle of soap :-S

This made me think.
I actually have a spare bottle of soap - bought ages ago, when it was on offer.
I also know I have a very small bar of soap, that I take when we go camping, in case there's none in the loos.

I also know I have more 'bars' of soap, so I delved into a bathroom cupboard and came out with:
6 soaps in a box that look like chocolate truffles (minus a small bite out of one)
One soap that looks like a very nice fairy cake
One soap that looks like a most delicious slice of chocolate cheesecake
One soap that looks like a chocolate fairy cake with fudge on top. Actually, on closer inspection - this one is a candle :-S
4 bath bombs in an egg box, that look like chocolate eggs.
...and I know there are more.....

Now, you may ask why I have so many cake/sweet shaped soaps/candles.
The clue is in the 'truffles.
One of my daughters bought me the 'truffles' one Christmas.
The top of the box just states 'Chocolate Truffles'. I opened it - and took a bite.
It says 'soaps' on the bottom :-|
Daughters (and grandchildren) found this so hilarious, if they found a 'tasty' looking soap or candle, they'd buy it for me, in the hope I'd fall for the same trick twice. :-| :-| I never have.

We were shopping in Asda yesterday as usual. The shelves were almost bare on some aisles. There were no toilet rolls whatsoever. After going further round the shop we came across two members of staff saying that the world had gone mad and it would end up with only one toilet roll per person at some point. I piped up that there were actually none at all when we were in that aisle. One of the men said he had just left a large trolley full of them if we were quick. Hubby went back to get a pack of four which is what we usually buy but they had only put out family packs of 16 rolls so we bought one of those. We would have been quite happy with 4 rolls but what can you do. I felt guilty carrying them from the car into the house in case someone saw me.

Kath. x

Lol Maggie,

I can just imagine your face having bit into that.

If I delve into cupboards and drawers here, I could find at least 2 or 3 bars of soap, although I usually use liquid variety.I know I have a Wrights Coal Tar bar, 1 of Dove and one translucent Pears. The Wrights and Pears in particular are tucked in with clean bed linen and their smell always brings back childhood memories of staying with my auntie in Wales.
Mum always maintained that soap lasted longer, when it was stored for a while, so that is why we both kept it until use, in with fabrics.

I checked/tidied the cupboard under the sink today and found two bars of Dettol soap which could come in handy. Also found a bar of vanish soap but think that can stay there for its intended purpose ;-)

We almost always have at least 2 packs of either 8 or 12 toilet rolls in the basement store ....... that's because we buy when they come on sale, and 2 for the price of 1 is not an unusual offer.

We currently have 2 packs down there, but I know that we'll need to bring one up to one of the 2 bathrooms within the next 2 or 3 days. So one pack has been on the shopping list for the last 10 days ............ nada!

OH checked for the TP again about an hour ago, and came home laughing ......... no TP of course, but he said people were putting back on the shelves packs of Royale facial tissues, even though they were the only ones available ...................

they were too expensive!

If you really need paper hankies, you'll buy even the expensive ones if there are no others there


I find it absolutely disgusting that people are buying up massive supplies ot items, and then selling them on eBay at a huge profit.

But there have always been profiteers in every century


I always have plenty of soap in because, again we buy in packs of 3 or 6. Plus I bring home tablets of soap that we have used when we stay in hotels .......... I figure that is fair game. We both have at least one unopened bottle of shampoo (plus conditioner for me).

We don't have many tins in the cupboard, except for tins of wild sockeye salmon and of Campbells condensed Tomato soup ............. the salmon is a staple dish for us both winter and summer. Salmon salad in summer and fish pie in winter, and tomato soup is what I feel like if my tummy is "off". So again we buy on special.

But we have larger fridges and freezers over here, so we have a very well stocked freezer ............ I reckon I have enough roasts of around 1 lb in size for at least 2 months of Sunday roasts :-D . Would you like ham, beef, pork or lamb? :-D

Plus there's ground beef, stew beef, sausages (English bangers and Mild Italian) and pork, chicken or beef stirfry. The stew, shepherds pie and fish pie that I make will each add 3-5 single servings of frozen home-made meals.

I don't think we'll starve :-D

We won't stave but it might be interesting making meals if the shops stay empty of food for long. My cart was full yesterday but that's for five of us and it will mostly be gone time I shop next. I always have some cans just in case etc but canned food can be so salty. I have milk powder just in case, as luck would have it I have quite a few small containers of fruit juice as it had been on sale so we can drink that if need be. I have loads of different teas as I usually drink coffee but everyone gives me tea for gifts :-) Have enough dried pasta to last maybe 2 weeks as it had been on sale. Have frozen fruit left still from last summer so that'll help for a little while.

That said.......if they're all home more than usual they tend to snack more so it could all be gone very quickly....

We have frozen juice that we make up as needed. OH is finding it hard to find the Cranberry or Cranberry mix that I prefer, so I might be going without!

At the moment I'm trusting that we will always be able to get milk and my Soy milk, but might have to rethink that!

I have a goodly supply of the no lactose and gluten-free snacks that I have to have, and several gluten-free loaves and a couple of bags of gluten-free bagels (5 per bag) in the freezer. I think OH has about 2 weeks supply of his bread.

I usually drink only cold or hot water plus a glass of the fruit juice at lunch and dinner, and a sleepy herbal tea at bedtime .......... haven't been able to buy my preferred extra strength one since before Christmas, so I have already adjusted there. OH has several bags of coffee beans in the freezer ........... daughter always gives him at least one bag in his Christmas stocking! Her son gave me a box of the extra-strength herbal tea at Christmas .... they could still get it there!

Plus I have I dunno how many boxes of tea, both real tea and herbal, in all kinds of flavours. I used to get them as gifts, but don't really like them any longer.


The thing is ............. no-one has any need to buy abnormal amounts of anything, certainly not in the amounts that we've been seeing!

Just a thought - apart from toilet roll, people appear to be buying up all the kitchen towel too. Is this because there's no toilet paper left?
If people use kitchen roll as toilet paper, I can see, not only peoples toilets overflowing, but the sewerage system blocking up all over the country :-(

Son 'phoned last evening to say they had bought my "Mothers Day" gift, pack of 4 toilet rolls,did I want them gift wrapped? :-D

Georgy Melly
had such a big belly
that he could not get near the telly
So he had to go
and listen to the radio

I went out for the first ( and last probably) time in weeks, driven to the Co op , nice to see the daffs and crocus at the roadside, very cheering :-)

Still some toilet rolls there, limited amount of pasta, only spaghetti and lasagne sheets, but no shortage of everything else. A few more people shopping than is usual on a Sunday, ( that amounts to 4 people in front of us at the 2 tills) but no loaded trolleys or the like. Iceland order which we had in the week was fine also, but was a late slot as all the early ones were taken so they must have been busier than usual.

Can't speak for whether there was any shortage of meat, we don't eat it so I didn't notice :-)