By\nnow, everyone has experienced the disappearing toilet paper caper. We made our monthly trip to COSTCO last week\nonly to discover that the warehouse was void of any toilet paper and paper\ntowels. In its place was an employee\ntelling the shoppers parading past that a shipment will be in tomorrow. What seemed strange is that a pallet of\nKleenex sat across the aisle from the empty skids where TP and paper towels\nwere usually located. Wouldn\u2019t you want\nto stock up on Kleenex instead of toilet paper in the midst of a potential\npandemic? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hoarding\nhas been around since families lived in caves. \nThe practice of piling up goods for personal use may have peaked during\nthe Great Depression of the 1930s. Most\nBaby Boomers will remember their parents or grandparents telling stories of how\nthose from the Great Generation began to hoard items, especially toilet paper\nand soap. They saved everything. Old clothes would not be thrown out, but\nwould become a piece of a quilt \u2013 many of them beautiful. Equipment that didn\u2019t work was saved in case\na replacement part from it was necessary in repairing its successor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ngeneration before us hoarded different food items, too. Hunger was massive in the 1930s. The period experienced more than an economic\ndownturn; it was also the time of the Dust Bowl. Food was scarce because it was\nalmost impossible to grow enough to feed a nation. It just dawned on me that Grandma\u2019s Garden<\/a> and her cave was an example of how\none person could not possibly have enough food to last a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Today, the global markets are as unstable as the tornadic Midwestern air in May and June.\u00a0 The NYSE is replicating the ups and downs it saw in 1929.\u00a0 Many economists are predicting that we are heading for a recession.\u00a0 I anticipate it may look more like a depression, such as the Great Depression that followed the Black Friday market crash of late October in 1929.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now,\nwith self-isolation, safe distancing, working from home, businesses closing,\nAlcoholic Anonymous meetings and church services canceled (even Catholic Mass,\nwhich is the first time in my life), quarantine, and short supplies of food and\nstaples, I wonder if some of us will be thrown back into a previous time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Perhaps\nwe\u2019re in a cyclical spin. Santayana, the\nfamous philosopher and essayist (essayist means blogger in modern terms)\nsaid: “Those who cannot remember\nthe past are condemned to repeat it.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n This time, the Greater Depression will be caused by a lack of leadership, failure to foresee and compensate for a disaster, and underlying anarchy.\u00a0 It\u2019s inevitable that we will see an increase in crime and poverty, as if the two can be separated.\u00a0 And lack of addressing the issue of climate change, combined with the financial collapse of numerous economies, may add to the mental and physical decay of those living in helplessness and hopelessness.\u00a0 <\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m not necessarily predicting doom and gloom.\u00a0 Just sayin\u2019, you know. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By now, everyone has experienced the disappearing toilet paper caper. We made our monthly trip to COSTCO last week only to discover that the warehouse was void of any toilet paper and paper towels. In its place was an employee … Continue reading