We are living in a dystopian novel. Is it overly dramatic. Yes. Is it accurate? Yes. I went to the grocery store this week. Several times because I kept having to change stores to find what I needed. I wasn’t there to panic buy. I was there to buy my week’s worth of groceries like I always do. There was no toilet paper, no water, no lactose free milk, no, no, no… I’m a professional substitute teacher. I don’t make a lot of money, but with my health concerns, it is a good job and I can feel like I’m doing something that contributes to society. However, it also means I’m not in a position to buy a ton of things. Not that I’d have the room to store a year’s worth of anything.
As a society, I think we need to start thinking about the people in positions similar to, or worse than, mine. The moms who are desperately waiting for their next round of food stamps, or the elderly that are waiting for a social security check before they can buy groceries. These are the people that need us to NOT panic buy. They need us to make sure that there will be food and toilet supplies on the shelves when they have the money to buy them. Someone on Twitter put out a plea about baby formula. Whether you believe breast is best or that formula is not the answer, the reality is a huge chunk of the baby population relies on formula for survival. It’s our responsibility as a society to make sure there is some.
I guess the point of this post is that I, too, am pleading with Americans to consider their neighbors. If there ever was a time to consider ourselves part of something bigger, that time is now. The death rate in the US is projected to sky rocket. Shouldn’t we be part of the solution in keeping people health and alive rather than the guilt ridden survivors that are faced with our part in killing off the population?
Wash your hands, avoid crowds, and for the love of all things Holy, please please leave what you don’t need on the shelves.
Lanie Goodell 