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How's your toilet paper?


Nyxnine

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I thought this would be a fun and somewhat interesting topic to throw up.

As corona/covid-19 discussions are on  the news everyday its really making a lot of people anxious. 

I was conducting interviews a few weeks back for new hires, and one potential candidate voiced his concerns about his safety well working in case the virus showed up in our city. As this is something that we can't necessarily control we did discuss the use of proper hygiene and what would occur if it say popped up in one of our employees. 

He ended up not taking the job (this was a highschool kid) his mom lives in Taiwan and told him to not work right now - because of the dangers. 

Anyways, now there are people who are clearing shelves of toilet paper in Canada. I know its bad in Australia as well....but....Canada doesn't have any outbreaks and the people who have contracted the virus are those who came back from cruises (not passed to random strangers).

It seems people are seeking out toilet paper because it's big, its a 1st world comfort and everyone is leaving shelves bare and fueling the fear.

 

I think its silly. What are your thoughts? How's your cities toilet paper supply? What are some bizarre things you've noticed?

Edited by Nyxnine
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@The History Kid aw man, I want to hear this joke now.

I agree it is ridiculous. I mean, yes, its good to protect yourself...but in a logical way. Its just another form of the flu.(worse for elderly, sick, weak immune systems, children). 

Its crazy though, Netflix had aired pandemic in Canada and it talks about the spread of the flu. Was interesting timing haha.

My friend sent me a snapchat where he was holding a bag of bounty and some royale leaning over them as if he was just in a battle. With a tag "spoils of war"

He's in Edmonton. Which...just sounds funny on its own if you know anything about Canada.

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I find the 2019-nCoV response by the population at large, the media, and the politicians to be pretty bizarre, frankly.  The fact of the matter is that the reported death rate for people aged 10-50 is 0.2%, and the actual death rate is probably far lower, since a lot of people with the virus seem to have mild, or even no symptoms and thus go unreported.  (In fact, that's one of the problems in trying to contain the virus.. people with no symptoms can nevertheless still infect other people.)  For MOST people, certainly anyone between 10 and 50 years old, the worst that can happen is you feel like shit for a few days, you stay in bed, drink your fluids and watch TV, then you get well.  That's it.

To be sure, there' a serious problem in that there's no vaccine yet.  Even the regular flu would be pretty serious without a vaccine.  Even if there were a vaccine, this virus is (slightly) worse than the usual flu in terms of symptoms and its contagiousness.  If you have very young children or are older then there is definitely some cause for concern.  I'm 55.  My mom is pushing 80.  Even for the normal flu we do tend to get our yearly vaccination.  Without a vaccine the major problem is this older/younger cohort of people, large numbers of whom will die without a vaccine.  Especially if they all get sick at once and modern medical services get overwhelmed.  For instance, there's ~60,000 ICU bays in US hospitals.  About 20,000 of those are already in use, mainly supporting people who have fallen ill with the regular flu.  If we have 1/3rd of our resources already taken up by a disease for which there IS a vaccine, what's going to happen when the one for which we DON'T have one gets out of control?  THAT is the real problem here.

Unfortunately the press is all about revving people up these days, not informing people.  Our "leaders" too have their heads up their behinds.  So we now have people in the general population with little to no actual science or medical knowledge being directed by inane Presidental tweets or listening to uninformed talking heads in the media, and then panicking over shortages of toilet paper.  I hate to imagine what they're going to do when the body count of old people dying from the disease starts climbing.  We are truly the descendants of the B-shippers.

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I'm not one to panic but it never hurts to be prepared so yes, I have stocked up on items such as extra toilet paper, over the counter meds, non-perishable food items, etc. I stay fairly well stocked on these items anyway, so I just picked up a few additional of each. No crazy hoarding of bottled water or anything like that. There is no shortage of anything in my area that I'm aware of & no sense of panic either, 

To anyone who is currently in an area that is being severely impacted by this outbreak though, I hope that you & your family are doing well! 

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Is it really that bizarre? It's something “new” to focus on and is affecting a lot of people. It's hard to gauge political input from my end though (especially because you're viewing it from the States side) – it's not really discussed as much here from a political stand point EXCEPT, all the mention about financial blowback after the fact. Money....But, then again, I don't know, I feel like its been handled well and is organized when it comes to finding people who are sick. And....I don't use twitter lol.

 

I have a few friends who are nurses here and they're already dealing with an influx of flu cases right now. However, we have become so blasé to the flu and how bad it can actually be I don't think people who are 20's-40's really think that much about it unless they are in the medical field. I worked as an Optician for 7 years and would get the flu shot because it was offered during the day at work by the clinic owners. However, I have never sought out getting immunized. That being said, when my sister had a baby I did go on my own volition BECAUSE of my nephew being born.

Even with the shot though, there are variations of strain when it comes to the flu, so even being inoculated doesn't always help. But, those who are vulnerable will go out of their way to protect themselves, as they should.

Back to the media, they have been discussing each case, each death from all around the world, and so of course you're going to be panicked hearing it all the time. I would be freaked out if they started discussing anything negative over and over again for months.

It's true that a lot of the symptoms will go unnoticed, also – quarantined people my foot, there is a lady in Calgary Alberta who was on the California princess cruise, quarantined for 14 days, no symptoms came home and then almost a week later had the virus and now they've had to close down the business she was working at, and she is now again self quarantining until she is healthy again. I think a lot of people are reflecting on how it is popping up – but in Canada, for example, the people who are popping up are those who are coming back from travelling, not from receiving it from having it transferred randomly with no known connections.

As for the vaccine, I have another friend who is a phlebotomist and she was mentioning the trial vaccines they received a the hospital shes at. She deals with research – and I know that there has been a a lot of joint efforts to find a vaccine globally so hopefully something will come up soon to help those who are vulnerable. But, hospitals are already overwhelmed under the flu season so places that aren't prepped to take on so many people – that is scary – BUT, I would feel more nervous for 3rd world countries where the infrastructure isn't there.

 

But, yes to much revving of fears, and then FOMO, because once something is out of place enough times, it will keep on catching. Please don't go out and buy more toilet paper. Hahah

@efaardvark also....ps. Because I'm really not cool with slangs – what is B-shippers? haha

Image may contain: 2 people, possible text that says 'Unfortuantely the tests came back positive for COVID-19. You have coronavirus. That can't be correct. I have over 40 cases of costco water and 200 rolls of toilet paper.'

10 minutes ago, RuthisianCodex said:

I'm not one to panic but it never hurts to be prepared so yes, I have stocked up on items such as extra toilet paper, over the counter meds, non-perishable food items, etc. I stay fairly well stocked on these items anyway, so I just picked up a few additional of each. No crazy hoarding of bottled water or anything like that. There is no shortage of anything in my area that I'm aware of & no sense of panic either, 

To anyone who is currently in an area that is being severely impacted by this outbreak though, I hope that you & your family are doing well! 

Also, honestly, as long as you're just making sure you're stocked for a month or two, I don't see a real issue. Furthermore, no battle royales happening to gain said supplies. AND, you're getting ACTUAL necessities like meds and food. That at least is logical to me haha

Edited by Nyxnine
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I can't think of a single situation where panicking has ever made things better so I just do my best to remain calm, look at the facts that are available, & go from there. Like I said earlier, I keep certain items stocked in my house at all times so I'm good there. I've also started taking a real good & honest look at my health over the last year & have put practices into place such as working out on a daily basis, watching what I eat, etc. because I believe in preventing problems before they start when possible. In all outbreaks like this, the people who will be the most affected are those with medical issues or compromised immune systems so I believe that improving one's health is one of the best weapons in situations like this. 

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19 minutes ago, Nyxnine said:

That being said, when my sister had a baby I did go on my own volition BECAUSE of my nephew being born.

Thank you.  That's a good deed.  Babies can't get immunized, so if the people around them can do so it helps the child. 

That's what all the hand-washing with this SARS variant is about now too.  Right now there's no way to vaccinate people, so even though people in their 20s and 30s have pretty much nothing to worry about personally it indirectly helps all the people that they interact with.  Some of THOSE people might be in for serious problems if they get it.

Stockpiling toilet paper and bottled water isn't helping.  The best thing people can do is wash their hands several times a day with soap and water for at least 30 seconds.  You won't get sick, and us old folk will appreciate it.

 

About that B-Ship thing.

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ID-19 isn't the "be-all-end-all disaster bug" that they think it is. 

1 hour ago, The History Kid said:

I'd be more worried about the Plague getting into the homeless population - which it's starting to in California.

An excellent point that no one is talking about on the news. Which is baffling to me, not only as an advocate for the homeless in my area but also as someone with just flat out common sense, that a vast, at risk section of our communities is just being totally overlooked for the most part. 

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The “news” reporting is not useful.  Even by their own alarmist standards they’re not even doing their reporting right.  For instance, according to the CDC regular old H1N1 has already killed 136 children so far this flu season.  You would think they’d be all over that.  Apparently they don’t care.  (Or worse, they don’t even know.. this info is in the CDC’s usual weekly reports, available to all on their web page.)  They would rather report on toilet paper shortages.  I’d ask my dog for advice before I’d listen to anyone on the “news”.

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I didn´t have the time (and since I live an almost hermit-like lifestyle, nor the interest) to look into it too much, but from the few studies there are and I´ve seen, it doesn´t seem to be that bad, especially not as bad as it is portrayed in the media. This doesn´t mean that it couldn´t theoretically mutate into something much worse though.
Stockpiling stuff might not be that bad an idea, since I wouldn´t be surprised if stores in some places close because of the hysteria (also generally speaking it is not a bad idea to have reserves in case of unexpected incidents).

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Unfortunately for me, the virus has already reached my area.

I've already stocked up on things that would definitely be wiped from the shelves once panic starts kicking in like food and such.

Now, all I need to do is isolate myself from society by living in my room until the vaccine arrives. Just like a normal day.

Yes, I do have toilet paper.

 

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Oh man, I saw that video today! @RuthisianCodex =-=;;;

Also that made me laugh @The History Kid

 

I liked this video - start it at 039 to get past the intro. 

---- and the video was deleted

Sparks notes:

The flu isn't sexy anymore, so the news will only talk about crazy new things and make it bigger than it is. Still I wish the video was still there. 

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Just watched that video and gotta say, that's a lot of toilet paper. do people stockpile for months? That doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. If any kind of shutdown lasts for less than a month then you won't need all that toilet paper. If it lasts for more than a month then I assume you will have worse problems to deal with than toilet paper, such as no running water or electricity. Unless you have your own water and electricity supply, stockpiling for such a long time doesn't seem to make much sense.

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my neighbor's husband went to our local walmart and the shelves were empty. this older man had the last three packages of toilet paper and wouldn't give anyone who actually needed them. the husband snatched the toilet paper and walked off. its so bad down in florida. luckily my boyfriend buys them in bulk on a regular basis online (cheaper than buying them from the store). 

im just so confused as to why people are stocking up on toilet paper? like. what does it have to do with the virus? i can understand cleaning supplies. i guess people are hoarding up just in case they have to stay inside for a long period of time? i've no idea 😩

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My family stocked up  a little bit on toilet paper and things like canned food and water due to the concern of people going full doomsday prepper mode and snagging all of it the second they hear someone cough. The shelves weren't empty at stores we go to, but they were picked over pretty well. Still no cases in Montana and it probably is one of the best states to live in for this situation, but that won't stop people from panicking. I do have a weak immune system and asthma though, so probably not a bad idea to be ready since just the regular flu can mess me up~

Honestly though, the scariest thing about this to me was hearing someone remark "I guess I better start washing my hands."

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1 minute ago, SanguineTear said:

Honestly though, the scariest thing about this to me was hearing someone remark "I guess I better start washing my hands."

wish I could say that he was probably kidding. one of the reasons why we should abandon handshakes and adopt something like bowing in Japan. It's enough for me seeing people use the public restroom and heading straight for the door, not to mention the spread of various microbes they might be carrying

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@SanguineTear.. We did the same thing (stock up) a couple weeks ago.  My mom is 80 and my SIL has diabetes and high blood pressure so we wanted to make sure we got in ahead of the current wacko crowd that's in full prepper mode.  Nothing to do now but watch the "show" and hope the lightning doesn't strike too close.

Still can't beat the "monkey riots" in Thailand for sheer entertainment value however.  (Tourists feed crowds of monkeys bananas.  Virus => No tourists => no bananas => mobs of hungry, angry monkeys.)  Bet that didn't appear on anyone's risk-assessment analysis.  :D Kind of scary too, in a way.  It is often the weird, unexpected stuff that gets you in the end.

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2 hours ago, Illusion of Terra said:

It's enough for me seeing people use the public restroom and heading straight for the door

uh eww. =-= 

58 minutes ago, efaardvark said:

@SanguineTear.. We did the same thing (stock up) a couple weeks ago.  My mom is 80 and my SIL has diabetes and high blood pressure so we wanted to make sure we got in ahead of the current wacko crowd that's in full prepper mode.  Nothing to do now but watch the "show" and hope the lightning doesn't strike too close.

Still can't beat the "monkey riots" in Thailand for sheer entertainment value however.  (Tourists feed crowds of monkeys bananas.  Virus => No tourists => no bananas => mobs of hungry, angry monkeys.)  Bet that didn't appear on anyone's risk-assessment analysis.  :D Kind of scary too, in a way.  It is often the weird, unexpected stuff that gets you in the end.

I think its fair to stock up on your medications you usually take, up to a certain time period (looking at it almost like you're going on a month vacation. What are my essentials; what would be difficult to come by). 

When I went to the store to get antibiotics for my cold I received so many nasty looks :( I was totally to myself, responsible for my coughs, where I was touching, and hand sanitizing. I feel for those who might be mistaken for sick and having the panic around them go sideways.

My friend brought up another point. She's Chinese and sent me a message saying "wondering if white people would get harassed or shunned in the streets if COVID-19 had begun in Europe" and then I was telling her I think anyone will get shunned at this point for even a sniffle. 

Please don't be like Thai monkeys and panic....we have better faculties to use. 

(also ps. totally googled that after =3= haha I don't believe in feeding wild animals...I mean I get that its a cultural/temple, but...you mess animals up by doing that and cause more harm than good....case in point) :(

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Here in the UK it seems to be that people are either going completely nuts and clearing the shelves of ibuprofen, paracetamol and toilet roll (for some reason), or they're not giving it anywhere near the concern required and are complaining because the football might be canceled. 

 

There is no in-between 😅

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Sooooo update: it turns out store shelves are empty now here. This is in a small, isolated town in a big state with no confirmed cases...

At least one of the local stores is limiting it now, and will be setting some aside for customers who couldn't even get any at all. 

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