I got myself in a flat spin!
I’ve been away for a week and away from the local news, only seeing posts on social media that were an escalating frenzy of vicious supermarket fights over toilet rolls, and conflicting news about who should self-isolate from potential coronavirus and who shouldn’t. I woke up this morning in a bit of a flat spin! Should I go and shop RIGHT NOW just in case we have to self isolate? Should I make an inventory of what I have in the freezer, and should I also count how many toilet rolls I have and get some more just in case? ( I did actually count the number I had when we arrived home last night!)
I’ve been up a mountain.
Not an Italian mountain I hasten to add. I was one of the lucky ones who didn’t get their holiday cancelled, so there’s no need to panic! I was going to write a post about fermented food and being on top of the world, but this news is more relevant.
While I was away, I have seen how the world transmits news. News from the people on the ground, not the news the government thinks we should hear. Today I went to our local small Tesco, expecting a mad rush as the doors opened and empty shelves where the bread, loo rolls and hand wash used to be. Apparently they had run out of toilet rolls and bread yesterday, but that’s no different to when we are are expecting snow. Everything had been re-stocked – because that’s how supermarkets work. They see what’s happening and they change their orders. Lorries arrive, and shelves get replenished. We ARE NOT in an apocalyptic state -yet!
Loo rolls restocked. No panic here.
I have been sensible.
I have, however bought some strong flour, yeast and three bags of frozen mixed berries. I got some soups to freeze and three packs of hot cross buns – priorities! I have fish fingers – always good in the event of a siege, and I threw in some kettle chips and two tins of baked beans. Although, I was told by the cashier that someone bought £130 worth of baked beans the day before – ‘WTAF’ as they say! I mean, WHO were they buying for?
Plenty of hand wash
I bumped into a few friends on the way round – one who isn’t on any social media platform and had no idea about the toilet roll frenzy reaching Australia and people fighting over cases of them in Costco. The people who were taking trollies FULL when others had none. If you don’t know what’s going on, then you won’t be panicking, but this also works the other way. Sometimes social media is needed to let people know what really is happening, but as always news on Face Book travels fast and everyone panics.
Is there a real news delay?
Our Tesco is a local country one and people chat. I met someone today who was a District Nurse, we were making a joke about there being so much hand wash on the shelves, and was she absolutely sure she didn’t need some baked beans and pasta as we both rolled our eyes and shrugged. She then told me something quite concerning. One of her colleagues had returned from Italy and was told there was ‘no need to self isolate if they had no symptoms’. Her team didn’t agree with this guideline and told her not to come to work. They deal with vulnerable adults and the elderly. This is how the virus is spreading. People are not taking sensible precautions.
We’ve been here before.
You also have people who think it’s just like bird flu, and foot and mouth, and that it will just peter out. It probably will, but we need to realise that this is REAL. My mother told me today of the Asian Flu that was in the country had when she was a child. She remembers schools and cinemas closing to restrict the spread. Coronavirus is the same but on a much bigger scale, as we now have larger events and higher volume of travel. We have always had these epidemics and we have always come through the other side, with a great number of deaths and a lots of panic, but the panic is worse these days because we are all so connected.
Panic breeds more panic.
I hate to admit it but I was one of those panicking this morning, until I wandered into the supermarket and found everything as it should be. Yes, I’ve bought a few more things for the freezer, I have enough loo rolls, and yes, I have enough soap – I use it all the time you know, I don’t need to stock pile.
I saw this article today of why reporter Simon Jenkins isn’t too worried about it.
My personal thinking about it all.
Could the powers that be have stopped this frenzy happening much faster? We don’t know what really goes on in Cobra meetings and have no idea how long it takes to get new protocols in place, but we do know that pretty much everyone has access to social media and that includes the government. The loo roll crisis was happening days ago, but they have only just announced on the radio that there is no need to stock pile. It’s a bit late now mate. Andrex are rubbing their hands together though!
Be sensible about things.
For those of you who have been unwittingly fuelling the frenzy by posting photos of empty shelves, just take a moment and think about it. Panic creates more panic. My concern was for my autistic bother. He won’t have seen any of this drama and he only buys two toilet rolls at a time from Morrisons. It’s hard for me to get him a pack of four from other supermarkets, as he doesn’t think they will fit in his cupboard. It’s a spacial thing. If the country runs out, (unlikely, but if it did) he may just pop into Morrisons next week and find empty shelves. What will he do then? What about all the people who don’t have the money to bulk-buy, what about those who can’t get out in a car to buy loads of things? I won’t even speak about those who have to use a food bank!
Think about others. Be nice.
I heard today from a friend that she had gone to get some junior paracetamol for her daughter. She doesn’t drive and had to walk to FOUR different shops as everywhere had sold out because of people being greedy and caught on the train of fear. I won’t even get started on the person selling hand sanitiser for £25 a bottle when it cost £1.00 !! This is just making me so angry, and I don’t do angry! I’ve really had to focus and settle to be able to write this. In fact, MrH asked if I needed to write a blog, because I was so angry! YES I DO! It’s important!
There is another deeper side to all this.
I obviously have a much more woo woo take on all this. If you read the last post about The World On Fire you will know where I’m going with this. Mother Nature has a way of shaking things, and she’s ramping things up a bit with this nasty Corona virus. We will get though this, and maybe this time lessons will be learnt. The thing that has made me very sad is the greed. The greed caused by panic. Panic caused by social media. You will always find people posting drama, and you’ll always find people like me posting positive motivational things.
I think what I’m trying to say is, notice how you are reacting to things you see on line.
Be sensible. Be responsible and be KIND.
This flu epidemic isn’t a new thing.
As I said earlier, we’ve been here before. There’s always something coming along to shake us up a bit. Some will get sick, and yes some may die. We have no idea what is happening behind the scenes, and we can only be prepared. Stay healthy. Eat good nourishing foods, minerals, ginger, echinacea, green juice. Pretty much looking after yourself as you normally would!
