87 replies to this topic

[Jewlzm]

Thanks for posting Dar! Those are real eye openers.

[Nana]

[mistylady]

Thanks for sharing Darlene. Quite an eye opener. Stay prepared!

[goatherder]

The long lines and stripped shelves remind me of how some stores look around here right after people get paid and there is a big sale! I don't think the stores here keep a very large stock of most items on hand instead they function on JIT (just in time) deliveries which are not adequate when the demand is high. Heaven help those who don't prep if TSHTF!

[Jennysmama]

Wow, I bet the pantry shelves in many of our Mrs. S members' homes are at any given time more well-stocked than those, Darlene! Thanks for posting the pictures as a little reality check...

[Becca_Anne]

Great pics Darlene! You really captured the reality of it. If anyone doubts how fast things would fly off the shelves.... this should put an end to it!

Also has anyone else noticed their stores pretending to have more on hand than they do? I've noticed lately that there will be a row 2 thick of something pushed up to the front, with nothing behind it! So the shelf looks full, but it's almost empty!!

[Stephanie]

what's that old addage....a picture is worth a thousand words...certainly applies here.

Why did the lady at the grocery store give you grief?

Stephanie

[cookiejar]

Wow!

That looked like my store down the road. I went around and people watched too. Did you hear about the fistfights in the gasoline lines? This time at least, they designated in-one-ways with police to control rowdiness at some spots.

The big thing I've heard (and was in the paper) were the people with containers of gas who were keeping them for the whole hurricane season not realizing:

A. You need to buy and administer a stabilizer or the gas goes bad in I think it's a month.
B. You need to keep it outside in a covered shed. (Those indoor explosions are so annoying).

but, it is too true, you've got to prep. It was so soul satisfying to know that basically, I had decent hurricane supplies (and mostly it was all yours from out here fault...LOL). Prep Cookie prep!

Humor for you: Years ago, I was all smug when a hurricane warning came, I was ready. I lived across the street from a major Publix store (sorta like Vons/safeway) and was gleefully watching the crowds from my balcony. Then the phone rang. It was Rosa, a family member who had the 3 year old and the baby. She plainitvely asked me to please go buy her supplies as her husband was at work and she didn't have the car. ARGH!! Heaven got me for being so smug. Guess who was one of those harried frazzled women you see in the news shopping last minute in endless lines? Then driving like a maniac on 95 pre-storm?

Very poignant photos Darlene. Since we both live hurricane warnings, it's easy to forget how chilling the stripped bare shelves are.The pictures brought it home.

Thanks,

[Schoolmarm]

Quote:

I posted these pictures to just give you an idea of how at the beginning of any emergency, things fly off the shelves and there is very little to go around when you have EVERYone waiting to the last minute to stock up. Ernesto ended up being a non-event thank goodness but if things had turned out differently, the abundance you still see on the shelves would have been totally stripped away.

I cannot stress enough the importance of being prepared AHEAD of time. You may not have hurricanes in your area, but unfortunately there are too many disasters that could hit any one of us at any given time.

Taking the time to do NOW what you may want to put off till later will afford you the security of being able to walk around like I did, not needing a thing and watching others trying to scarf up limited supplies.

Just something to think about.

*shrug*

You know what has always bothered me about last minute
buying in case of a major disaster either by nature or terrorism? Why do people think that the cashiers will
be there to ring up their order. On another forum, this
member posted that in the event of a terrorist attack,
he had the location of everything he needed from Sam's
Club. He would make a quick run through on the way home.
Yeah, right. In the event of a terrorist attack, the
cashiers will be long gone. Hope he had a plan B.
BTW, I can't blame the cashiers, can you?

[FunkyPioneer]

Man I wish I could veiw the pics, for some reason my stupid computer won't let me.

[WiccadStargazer]

I'm stealing the pics to put on my computer so I can show DH when he gets home (he'll never stand here long enough to let them load) (is it stealing if I tell first? lol)

[Darlene]

lol I don't think it's stealing at all...take all ya want!

[mimi]

Funky Pioneer,
Do you see where there is the post number and then the date?? After that you will see the word "attachment" underlined. Click on that.

[WiccadStargazer]

I showed DH the pics. He looked kind of like...

So much easier to show him than try to tell him! Thanks Dar!

[HSmom]

I just (finally) took the time to download these (dial-up service, y'know). I have to admit: I'm surprized.

Are that many people really that unprepared!?!?!?

In my area, the most likely natural disaster is earthquake - read: no warning! You have to have all that stuff before hand. Hello!!

I'm shocked.

Thanks for posting these, Darlene.

[Darlene]

Bumping this back to the top per Cookiejar's request...

[westbrook]

I would like to add...

that this is a hurricane... can you imagine what would happen if a pandemic hit? or stock market crash?

[dogmom4]

I was thinking about how people had to buy their stuff at regular prices and probably not getting it at sale prices. What a waste of money....
Stacy

[cookiejar]

I did ask and Thank You Darlene!

I just kept remember the things some of our snowbunnies were talking about like when the blizzards went through and you faced weeks without fresh produce and irritated people.

Westie's right, Lord knows what a pandemic rush would be like or a full fledged crash (How many of us were startled by the recent market scare?).

And your right Stacy, but let's take it a step further...what if there was noone to control the price gougers??

Remember seeing $6 dollar gas for the hurricane escapees?

This was a scary show-n-tell of Darlene's.

[moldy]

When I worked in a grocery store, we routinely pulled all the items to the front of the shelf (called facing), so that the store looked a little neater and more well-stocked. I imagine this is still routine (although it has been a Looonnnng time since I worked there). However, it does seem a little cosmetically deceiving on the part of the store.