What’s up with these people hoarding toilet paper? Who knew that in times of global pandemic terror toilet paper is more valuable than gold?
This is not an American phenomenon. Around the world, shoppers are filling their carts with life’s most essential commodity: toilet paper.
In Japan and Italy, also badly hit with Coronavirus cases, store shelves are barren, relieved of toilet paper.
The Food Minister of Denmark is asking people to return to their normal patterns of consumption of staple items.
Hand wipes, sanitizers, anti-bacterial hand soaps, all cleared from stores all over the planet.
Canned goods and beans are flying out the doors. Does rice have a shelf life?
There is no logical explanation for why this phenomenon is occurring, except that supply chains are going to be interrupted and, unsure of what supplies will be interrupted, people are whipping out credit cards and preparing for the worst while hoping for the best. It is irrational, but expected, not unlike empty bread and water shelves when hurricanes approach.
We asked area grocery stores including Kroger and HEB about their supplies and concerns but they did not respond. Perhaps they were restocking empty shelves.