After Blue Cat’s trip to Boston he had to go to the store to pick up the usual week’s worth of groceries. In normal times Blue Cat puts together a list, goes to the grocery store, and every couple of weeks goes to Costco to pick up large quantities of staples that will last a while. Usually canned goods and sodas – with the occasional package of ribs or chicken salad. And so Blue Cat went to Costco Saturday morning.
Blue Cat got there a bit early – and this is what he saw…
Yes – that’s a line the length of the Costco store. There were over 150 people in line just waiting to get in. And guess where they all went once they were through the front doors?
You guessed it – the back of the store where the toilet paper and paper towels were kept. Costco was limiting each patron to two packages of toilet paper and two packages of paper towels. Blue Cat only got one toilet paper package because that’s all his family could possibly need in a month – and for sure he could get more then. But most everyone else was getting two of each – and that meant something different in the weeks to follow.
It turned out that there was no toilet paper in any stores starting that weekend – Blue Cat guesses that folks needed to feel secure about something and having enough toilet paper for a couple of months was one of those things. But what about those who couldn’t get to the store before the shelves were cleared? Or those who were running out and then couldn’t buy more? This is a case where fear – and acting out of that fear – made life difficult for others.
And it meant that folks like Blue Cat – who believed in the supply chain and that the toilet paper factories would stay open – ended up not able to get their weekly supply. And that caused him a lot more anxiety.
Now Blue Cat has a lot of good to say about Costco. He went a couple of Saturdays later (still not finding toilet paper in any of the other stores) and the situation at Costco was quite different. There was a line at the store again – but this time everyone was spaced 6 feet apart and the store workers were only letting about 100 people in the store at any one time. So there were no crowds streaming to the back of the store, and when Blue Cat got there there were pallets full of toilet paper and paper towels. That meant that Blue Cat could get another package without denying others – and then stay focused on the food items he needed but couldn’t store too much of at his house. This time a successful and low stress trip.
So that is Blue Cat’s toilet paper story – a tale of fear and scarcity and final success.
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(C) William Doyle 2020
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