Hoarding vs?
 

So I have been one of those that have been shaking my head at the "hoarders" that continue to take stuff from the shelves. Today there was as interview with several mental health experts who explained what is going on and yes, it boils down to mental illness. It is OCD at best, and at worst, a fear of never having enough of anything. When anything out of the usual occurs (hurricanes is another example) the fear of not being in control kicks in and taking stuff gives them a feeling of being in control. So maybe hoarders is too broad a term and maybe we should sympathize with those that are afflicted...??

I'll sympathize up to the point where I have no TP and someone has 500 rolls in their garage.

I think that mental health experts like to diagnose people as either affIicted or not afflicted. But, it is really a spectrum, based on personality. Some people do not feel comfortable unless they have a stockpile of certain supplies, food, or money in the bank. Other people are fine living day to day. However, it does seem that a very small number of people go to the extreme and need professional help. Did the mental health experts tell you how many rolls of toilet paper you need to have before seeking professional help?

Yep.

I do want to sympathize, especially today. But I believe it’s only a small portion of those that are hoarding that have an emotional reason for doing so. I think the majority doing it are just not good people. I mean to their soul they are not good.

Are the shelves empty now because people continue to empty them to hoard, or are the shelves empty now because normal need purchasing & the supply chain has not caught up??

One must consider the whole supply chain thing. I have learned thing I never have much thought to. Toilet paper there are 2 markets consumers and industrial. Most people don't use the majority of toilet paper at home as they are at work/school during the day. The industrial supply chain doesn't have contracts with the consumer market. Even if that were to happen today shelves wouldn't be stocked overnight. They use different material also, they would need enough staffing and have to make changes to reformat the rolls. Not as simple as it seems at first glance.

I read somewhere online that it is a supply chain problem that is partly caused by the pandemic and might not be solved for a while.

However.....one has to wonder.
Given that just about every public venue is no longer open.
Hence the supply of paper products needed for all these institutions has literally shut down.

Also given (I think) it has been weeks since the run on these products started.

So one would think between the hoarders larder being full and the lack of commercial demand there should be more than enough to go around. The companies that package for commercial use should be able to switch to some sort of retail packaging.

It just does not compute that the system has not been able to "recover" to a steady state.....(based on my limited knowledge how it works).

I hope you are right and that the situation will be resolved soon. We are one of the ones who did not stock up enough. Didn't realize there would be a supply problem. My amazon.com order of 250 lunch napkins got cancelled. I did manage to get 8 boxes of kleenex...

There were folks coming out of Walgreens (Paar Drive) with TP and paper towels.
Also the little country store set on the City Fire front porch (Sumter Square) has it as well.....to name a couple.

As a layman I can’t say someone is suffering from mental illness but I wonder. Couple weeks ago I got to watch a woman load a shopping cart with hundreds of rolls of TP. The mountain of TP was taller than her. (in NY the supermarkets still have TP). I said to the lady, is it necessary to buy years worth of TP at this time? She said nothing, she had that laser beam focus to get to the register and out the door. Also, shame on the store for not limiting TP purchases.

It seems to me that something in their brain says buy it now because you might never be able to buy it again. I don’t know if that’s the definition of a hoarder but there is definitely something going on upstairs.

The continued shortages are surprising to me, too, especially since I believe all the grocery stores here are limiting purchases of food and other high-demand items. The 20 oz container of Italian spice blend I've ordered for years was either unavailable or twice the usual price. It's a puzzlement.

My new year's resolution this year was to switch to just in time purchasing instead of stocking up on 2 each of BOGO pantry items like I usually do. Good thing that, as usual, I didn't stick to it!

There may be some that hoard that have problems, but I have always stocked up on several items. I may only use 5 bottles of water per week. But when I buy , I get a months worth. The same with many things. That is why pantries were built. That is why Costco, SAMS do business. When the COVID-9 crisis erupted, I made sure I had a months worth of needed items that I have seen hoarded in prior emergencies. TP was one item. Who wants to stand in line to buy this crap when the shelves are bare. Recall that our pioneer ancesters had to make sure they could withstand long periods without certain items being available. Perhaps it Is in our genes.

My question is why are these items unavailable. One evening on a recent Lake Sumpter walk, we noticed several customers coming out of Winn Dixie with cart loads of TP. Sure they may have limits , but what clerk is going to argue. Hopefully, that is not the stuff that is showing up for sale at new general stores

Stores may be limiting amounts purchased but that doesn’t stop couples from each purchasing the limit, going to their car unloading and going back to buy more as I witnessed the other day. Nor does it stop people from buying as much as they can from different stores.

I was using Sam’s concierge service (LOVE it) and heard a “gentleman” arguing with the clerk that he had a RIGHT to buy 5 packages of toilet paper. Ultimately, he was refused any service. Wish more stores were willing to stand behind their guidelines like that. I went over a month without an egg in the house because InstaCart shopped too late and I refuse to go into any store. So, I’d guess folks are still hoarding. Maybe those that missed out on the initial hoarding are now taking their turn?

And then there’s my neighbors. Their lanai is crammed with stuff — toilet paper, paper towels, bottled water, canned goods, etc. They had a heck of a fight when they found out they wouldn’t be able to return any of it. Hate to admit it, but I had a good laugh about their little problem. Think it’ll take them about two years to use everything that doesn’t go bad.

Oh, for heaven's sake. I hadn't even thought of that.

I'm kind of curious what people are doing with all the baked beans. Those shelves were almost bare in Publix yesterday.

But why hoard something that you can't possibly be using more of today than you were before this started? Are folks actually using more TP now than before? Not really possible. So to me it makes no sense. During a hurricane it might pass the smell test as roads could be closed and supply chain might be interrupted. But now none of that type problem is happening. So why hoard anything? You might buy a bit more to limit trips to an area where you are exposed to more people, but no more than an extra couple rolls.

It's a completely artificial shortage created by people to stupid to understand how resupply works and to selfish to care how their behavior impacts others.

Which Winn Dixie? Why should it be up to the clerk? The clerk should call the manager. Isn't that what a manager is for? The store posts a sign that a certain item has a limit. STICK TO IT for crying out loud!

I'm not completely convinced that it's mental illness thing....it could be that they just have a more evolved sense of self awareness than the rest of us

My theory is (and by no means am I an expert on this subject, I majored in finance)...there are some folks that are so full of sh*t that even the slightest disruption in the TP supply chain sends them into a panic 'bulk buying' mode and they stock pile TP

I've known a few people that I'm quite sure were completely full of sh*t and never once did I ever hear them say that they were low on TP when we were all standing around the water cooler talking about previous runs on TP

now call me crazy, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it

Bull!

No tp in any NY metro area supermarkets for weeks.

Is it hoarding? Hoaxing should be over by now. Every day I see people walking the neighborhood I’ve never seen before. Make us wonder if they are here staying with relatives. Increasing our population substantially thereby creating shortages for Floridians. Seems this is the time of year businesses would be cutting back on stock and deliveries adjusting to the decrease in the population.

Sad that so many people are quick to judge. You never know someone’s situation. So much better stress wise and all around mental health to think the best of people. I was in a plane and about to take off...we were to,d to upright our seats. Person in front of me complied as flight attendant came thru. A minute latter, they reclined their seat 🤬. Same thing happened as we landed, however I heard the passenger in front of me tell the attendant, they needed to have their seat fixed as it would not stay upright😮. If someone goes speeding by me on the highway, is it better to get angry at them , which achieves nothing, or think.....maybe they just got a call from the hospital about their injured child? Yes, I may be a patsy, but I am an evolving calmer patsy 😀.

Yes

About 3 weeks ago there was a food drive for the Wildwood Food Pantry. I went to Walmart and loaded my cart with canned goods. A case or two or three of one item and then a case or two or three of another. I wonder how many people looked at my cart and thought I was hoarding? All the while it was for a good cause.

Yet another Smithfield factory shut down because their workers were getting the virus. There’s been a spike in coronavirus cases at meat plants in the U.S., with hundreds of reported infections in just the last week. Just sayin'.

The shortage scare started with postings on the internet and in particular Facebook. There wasn’t a supply chain issue at the outset but many who get their “news” from Facebook postings ran to the stores and cleaned the shelves. The supply chain has now caught up with demand or maybe the lack thereof. Last week Walmart on 466 had 5 pallets of toilet paper lined up in the grocery section and even Publix had paper on their shelves. Winn Dixie, specifically the one in Pinellas still had empty shelves.

Selfish people.

Plenty of paper products at the Walmart on 466 this past Saturday morning. All kinds. No employee controlling amounts. Seems supply issue resolved. However, hand sanitizer & liquid soap is still an issue. Progress!

Supply issue not resolved at Winn Dixie in Pinellas Plaza nor Publix at Traverse. Don't know why.

Supply issue will be resolved when we all have no reason to discuss it.

Sadly that day has not yet come.

Your last sentence is an absolute scream! Thanks for the morning laugh.

We also just had a regular supply on hand when the craziness started. We tried to find TP everywhere and my husband just ordered some online from Home Depot. Hasn't arrived yet but never knew that HD sold TP.

I am so glad they cannot return this stuff. Where would merchants put it all if it was all returned? What if someone was ill and another person got ill from handling it? If a policy says one per customer, the seller should enforce it so crazy people, who have penalized the non crazy, from even buying one package of TP!

It' not sumpter .. It's SUMTER

These are the same idiots who hoard bottled water in hurricane season and return it in December

I agree completely with this post. No store should accept any returns of items that left the store during the pandemic and are attempted to be brought back after. This is especially true of all the critical products which are being hoarded (e.g., toilet paper, tissues, masks, hand sanitizers, canned goods, etc.)

It is called impulse control disorder, I had it as a child; fortunately my Dad had a cure.

Ohiobuckeye
 

Just my opinion! I think the suppliers have kept up very well. When you think about it, has there really been any other time that 1 certain thing is always sold out. The only time I really can think of is during a hurricane & even then there always seems to be certain things that people buy but it does seem like there's always some certain things left that people want, like milk, bread. So yes, I do think some people hoard Toilet Paper. But then again you would think this would be a money maker for a Toilet Paper company to raise production & keep the shelves full. Remember this is just my opinion!