As Mama said, "there'll be days like this."
Let me preface by stating I do not take the Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic lightly. No siree! I am also empathetic to those who cannot afford to hoard essentials necessary to see them through any forthcoming mandated lockdown. I get it.
As in “Mama Said” by the Shirelles (1961)—my own mama said, “there’ll be days like this”. Hailing from New England where weather can turn on a dime, she was prepared by stockpiling household items “just in case “we became housebound.
Since the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I’ve always pivoted by her premise. So, I was all set by the time panic-buying seized our nation among others, depleting store shelves of: disinfectants, hand sanitizers, paper towels, and toilet paper.
Who knew toilet paper would be worth its weight in gold? Should the day dawn when I completely run out, I’ll resort to using dinner napkins.
As the Coronavirus claims more territory, I witnessed firsthand the supermarket situation. Realizing I can no longer count on frequent runs to replenish fresh produce for my healthy dinner salads, I’ve had to rethink my survival strategies.
During today’s mid-morning hour, I entered my local supermarket, a war-torn zone. I was able to navigate the aisles swiftly enough to procure “my take”: case of bottled water, cans of soup, and frozen entrees to hold me over--just in case--of quarantine or lock-down. Waiting in a serpentine line leading up to the cashier posed another hurdle to overcome. A hands-on kind of gal, I’m not one for using the pick-up service.
In the art of stockpiling, I’m low on hand sanitizer and disinfectant spray. No matter. I’ve an arsenal of cleaners approaching territorial overkill.
And, let’s not downgrade washing our hands with soap and water—the first line of defense in fighting germs.
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If we are self quarantining, why do we need hand sanitizer? If we didn't bring the virus into our house, we don't need to clean all of our surfaces. Sanitizers are only needed for going out in the unknown environment. Why overreact and by mass quantities? Are we going to be running around when a contagious virus is rampant in our neighborhood? That's why we are stocking up, to stay out of harms way.
I would recommend frozen vegetables for various reasons I won't go into. If we want to stock up on fresh vegetables, we can. All we have to do is cut up, blanch, and freeze our excess to be thawed out later.
Here in the hurricane zone we are always prepared for a month without water or electricity, so canned food is essential since frozen food without freezers will quickly thaw and have to be cooked to preserve it a little longer. We will cook food on our gas fireplace and charcoal grills. Inconvenient, but doable. We send our cans to the food bank every year and buy new ones. That way they don't get so old as to be rusting or otherwise contaminated by age.
Ron
Blessings, Eva:)
Sandie
Yet, go to our local "Smart and Final" and we can get whatever we want with no lines in order to even get in.
People are nuts!