Panic buying

[melmerby]

1 hour ago, Phil Parker said:

Morrisons Leamington an hour ago - all fresh produce fully stocked. Meat stocked. Gaps in some frozen goods. Bread all in. Generally looking normal. Didn't check toilet roll.

 

BUT - No Yorkshire tea!!!!

 

People keeping distance from each other.

Local Aldi had plenty, most other teas were out.

Must have better taste around here.

 

Tin hat on, ready and ducks for cover............

 

Leaving Sainsbury's you were treated to a free £15 bunch of flowers, not even reached "display until" date.

I assume flowers haven't entered the panic buyers mind set - yet!

[melmerby]

28 minutes ago, rockershovel said:

That’s definitely a problem with the Daily Telegraph On Line. 

There's always a problem with the Daily Telegraph  - No news

[jjb1970]

Just visited the local Tesco Express for a walk during my lunch break (working at home) and the shop is almost (but not quite) back to normal after a few days where they were struggling with some things.

[Reorte]

6 minutes ago, jjb1970 said:

Just visited the local Tesco Express for a walk during my lunch break (working at home) and the shop is almost (but not quite) back to normal after a few days where they were struggling with some things.

I found the same at my local (small large, if that makes any sense) Tesco. A bit sparse in some areas, and still absent of toilet roll, but I got everything I needed.

[John Harris]

4 hours ago, melmerby said:

Seems to be based on honesty and it seemed it was working OK.

Still a few NHS workers as well so there were young and old together.

In Aldi they said yesterday was pandemonium but OK today with no age restrictions and max 4 of anything

 

I used to work for the NHS, one of my colleagues was 75, the NHS is an odd institution in that respect.  It is not unusual for workers to retire and come back part-time.

 

When I worked in finance, at the Millennium we found someone still getting paid on the payroll who was born before 1900. 

 

jh

Edited March 23, 2020 by John Harris

[The Stationmaster]

Getting Yorkshire Tea round here is a lottery at the best of times hence whenever we find a shop with Yorkshire Gold in the loose packages we always buy a couple to remind them that folk buy it so they will restock.  Hence we have a useful stock level plus some Yorkshire red (which I'm not so keen on).

 

Tesco locally this morning reportedly short of some items still but three pallet loads of toilet paper were in the relevant aisle and not going down rapidly.  We shall wait for reductions if possible!

 

New concern must come with the news that McDonalds have closed their doors.  i can envisage a certain category of new supermarket shopper being rather puzzled to find that some brands of 'ready to eat' burgers are in fact icily cold and don't come in buns while another brand does come in a bun but is also icily cold and seems to lack  the necessary little squeeze packet of tomato ketchup.  and as for the cghips - why do they have to go in the oven first before you can eat them?   Welcome to having to 'cook' your food

[PatB]

2 hours ago, Reorte said:

 

You should be more concerned then about people feeding dogs dog meat...

When we pass our local butchers, I always point out the signs for pet mince and meaty dog bones to our pair of reprobate hounds and warn them that'll be them if the act up. 

[cctransuk]

2 minutes ago, The Stationmaster said:

Getting Yorkshire Tea round here is a lottery at the best of times hence whenever we find a shop with Yorkshire Gold in the loose packages we always buy a couple to remind them that folk buy it so they will restock.  Hence we have a useful stock level plus some Yorkshire red (which I'm not so keen on).

 

Tesco locally this morning reportedly short of some items still but three pallet loads of toilet paper were in the relevant aisle and not going down rapidly.  We shall wait for reductions if possible!

 

New concern must come with the news that McDonalds have closed their doors.  i can envisage a certain category of new supermarket shopper being rather puzzled to find that some brands of 'ready to eat' burgers are in fact icily cold and don't come in buns while another brand does come in a bun but is also icily cold and seems to lack  the necessary little squeeze packet of tomato ketchup.  and as for the cghips - why do they have to go in the oven first before you can eat them?   Welcome to having to 'cook' your food

 

I was astounded yesterday, whilst in the local greengrocers, to be asked by a lady of mature years "How long do carrots keep"?

 

Now I am 70+, and she wasn't far behind me in age; how had she managed all those years without having had to purchase and store 'real' carrots?

 

John Isherwood.

[The Stationmaster]

6 minutes ago, John Harris said:

 

I used to work for the NHS, one of my colleagues was 75, the NHS is an odd institution in that respect.  It is not unusual for workers to retire and come back part-time.

 

When I worked in finance, at the Millennium we found someone still getting paid on the payroll who was born before 1900. 

 

jh

You should have tried BR.  Even in the very late '60s/early '70s it was not at all unusual to find people who had started on the railway before the Grouping.  In one case in 1970 it was a chap who had started on the West Highland Extension as a (engine) Cleaner in 1913. I think he'd first retired on dieselisation but then came back as the porter In Charge at Morar (we got on very well as the weekend I was there I did his station accounts for him, about £6 worth!).

[John M Upton]

With the news that Macdonald's is shutting down tonight, I have had a report that their 24 hour drive through had a queue of cars almost a mile long earlier!

 

This is getting silly...

[Gwiwer]

4 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

With the news that Macdonald's is shutting down tonight, I have had a report that their 24 hour drive through had a queue of cars almost a mile long earlier!

 

This is getting silly...

Silly it may be but at least inside cars everyone is complying with the distancing guidelines.  

 

A return to a pre-burger lifestyle*.  And at least half the population who cannot remember such a time.  Stories of children who believe breakfast comes from MacDonalds are not at all apocryphal, I'm afraid.  

 

* Other burger brands are available; some existed long before the golden arch company arrived.

[melmerby]

5 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

With the news that Macdonald's is shutting down tonight, I have had a report that their 24 hour drive through had a queue of cars almost a mile long earlier!

 

This is getting silly...

Panic buying McDonald's?

Covid 19 must be affecting their brains.

[bourneagain]

12 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

With the news that Macdonald's is shutting down tonight, I have had a report that their 24 hour drive through had a queue of cars almost a mile long earlier!

 

This is getting silly...

This may give the local councils a chance to clear up all the discarded rubbish. Providing they have the staff to do so!

[melmerby]

19 minutes ago, John M Upton said:

With the news that Macdonald's is shutting down tonight, I have had a report that their 24 hour drive through had a queue of cars almost a mile long earlier!

 

This is getting silly...

Is their any reason to stop drive throughs?

It's not as if the public are mixing with each other and the staff have little or no contact* with customers.

 

*Easy to arrange

 

There is a Starbucks drive through at the Maypole, Birmingham and that has closed until further notice.

Edited March 23, 2020 by melmerby

[Ian Hargrave]

4 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

I was astounded yesterday, whilst in the local greengrocers, to be asked by a lady of mature years "How long do carrots keep"?

 

Now I am 70+, and she wasn't far behind me in age; how had she managed all those years without having had to purchase and store 'real' carrots?

 

John Isherwood.

Depressing but unsurprising.We are so used to convenience foods,ready meals and easy cook that the raw materials,as it were,are unknown territory to many. If you have ever been to an M&S Food Hall you will get the point. Their neatly boxed tempting offerings....Meal For Two plus wine £10 etc......fill many a trolley of customers of all ages.

 

To further illustrate the point,we have two friends,both widowed,75 and 80 respectively.One cannot/will not cook because her later husband did it all.She exists,if that’s the word,on rubbish food.The other,despite at one time being a partner in a catering business,is an M&S and Iceland freak and can’t be bothered.She entertains in style and is the soul of hospitality.

The flaw is that it all comes out of a packet...the worst being a Lidl lobster which redefined recycled upvc.She now exists mainly on pasta which atm is logistically challenging because there ain’t any to be had for now.

 

With regard to carrots,my wife,who is descended from a proud line of culinary matrons,will not overbuy them due to some  expiring in a shrivelled state in the inner recesses of the fridge on occasion.She is 80 .I approach 78.We eat well.No prepackaged convenience foods yet. Though she reminded me this morning that we did have a bit of a rehearsal of a kind 3 years ago when she underwent chemotherapy/ radium treatment for breast cancer which effectively took six months out of our lives and I was i/c food. I bought a few frozen meals but we both tired of them pretty quickly.We are spoiled,I freely admit but a good diet is essential.

 

[Ian Hargrave]

21 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Panic buying McDonald's?

Covid 19 must be affecting their brains.

 
Mad Cow....again?

[LBRJ]

49 minutes ago, John Harris said:

 

I used to work for the NHS, one of my colleagues was 75, the NHS is an odd institution in that respect.  It is not unusual for workers to retire and come back part-time.

 

When I worked in finance, at the Millennium we found someone still getting paid on the payroll who was born before 1900. 

 

jh

 

My dad worked, in a variety of roles, for the NHS from 1953 to 2011 - and he didn't start there straight from school either, he had done a full seven year apprenticeship and several years work before moving to a job in his trade but within the health service.

[JohnDMJ]

 

51 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

I was astounded yesterday, whilst in the local greengrocers, to be asked by a lady of mature years "How long do carrots keep"?

 

Now I am 70+, and she wasn't far behind me in age; how had she managed all those years without having had to purchase and store 'real' carrots?

 

John Isherwood.

 

It is proven that fresh vegetables are not as nutritious as frozen ones. Carrots, peas, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts et alia degrade nutritionally exponentially from the time they are picked!

[cctransuk]

12 minutes ago, Ian Hargrave said:

We eat well.No prepackaged convenience foods yet. ......I freely admit but a good diet is essential.

 

 

Exactly - one meal out a week at a pub / restaurant that serves 'proper' food; a roast on Sunday; a meal made from the remains of the Sunday joint on Mondays or Tuesdays; and home-cooked meals made from a good farm butcher's meat and local vegetables for the rest of the week.

 

Most of today's younger generation wouldn't know where to start - which is why I've been astonished to find raw meat, fresh produce and baking ingredients being cleared from supermarket shelves.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

[cctransuk]

3 minutes ago, JohnDMJ said:

 

 

It is proven that fresh vegetables are not as nutritious as frozen ones. Carrots, peas, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts et alia degrade nutritionally exponentially from the time they are picked!

 

Be that as it may - they taste better fresh, and the texture is far superior.

 

I'll stick with fresh.

 

John Isherwood.

[Gwiwer]

44 minutes ago, melmerby said:

Is their any reason to stop drive throughs?

 

Yes.

 

It means staff are not required to make non-essential journeys to and from work (often at unsocial times and when public transport in London, at least, is currently thin on the ground and less-than-reliable owing to their own staffing issues) and it means there is less stress on the supply chain.

 

If you have noticed the statement from Hattons today they are preparing for a complete shut-down expecting it to start on Thursday.  Takeaway food places may be anticipating the same and might be aware of advice in advance of it becoming public knowledge in order to wind down stock and manage staffing matters before a shut-down.

 

[Steamport Southport]

23 minutes ago, cctransuk said:

 

Exactly - one meal out a week at a pub / restaurant that serves 'proper' food; a roast on Sunday; a meal made from the remains of the Sunday joint on Mondays or Tuesdays; and home-cooked meals made from a good farm butcher's meat and local vegetables for the rest of the week.

 

Most of today's younger generation wouldn't know where to start - which is why I've been astonished to find raw meat, fresh produce and baking ingredients being cleared from supermarket shelves.

 

Regards,

John Isherwood.

 

That's a massive overgeneralisation and total nonsense. If I was a youngster I would also be quite offended.

 

I would suggest that most young people actually eat a far better and healthier diet than most of the older generation. How many pensioners are vegan, vegetarian, etc? How many shop at proper shops rather than supermarkets?

 

Who do you think does all the cooking in restaurants? It's certainly not OAPs. It's the millions of young people who are working in the hospitality sector for pennies. Just so snooty people can sneer at them.

 

I think you are mistaking " the younger generation" for what is virtually the underclass and those who can't afford to eat proper food. So they go to places where you can feed a family for a couple of pounds. Who could blame them? 

 

Most of them can cook as well. No boiling vegetables for hours and meat that has been cremated like most of the older generation does.

 

Most of them also spend hours at the gym and playing sports. 

 

 

 

 

Jason

[jjb1970]

Given that young people are seeing their futures flushed away before them, an accumulation of debt that'll be passed down to future generations and being turfed out of jobs etc to fight a disease that is really not especially problematic for people a lot younger than me then I suggest that perhaps people should show a bit more respect to youngsters at this time.

[bourneagain]

What isn`t helping with the panic buying and stock piling situation, is the fact that during every government broadcast for the last couple of weeks and even in yesterdays broadcast, the time of 12 weeks has been mentioned for periods of isolation. No doubt it will be mentioned again today. But I would like to know just when this 12 week isolation period will officially start from, so an end date can be realised.

[Mark Dickerson]

Future versions might be nastier to younger people, though.