It only takes one person to buy a lightbulb

I'm not sure if anyone else will agree, but I'm finding this new ‘one shopper from each bubble' rule at the supermarkets really quite good.
I'm advocating for this rule to continue after lockdown is over, with the obvious exceptions that exist for those who need to have someone else with them.

I've always enjoyed doing the weekly shop, but don't particularly like the rush hour queues on a Friday night as I pop in for a cheeky vino and a top-up of my chocolate stash. I'm never really sure if it's my cheap wine choice people are looking at or if they're trying to work out how many days in a row I've been wearing my track pants. It's three, Karen.
Saturday is washing day.

I'm also really enjoying the costumes people are sporting while getting their groceries. There's been sumo suits, dinosaur costumes, full plastic-bag ensembles and face masks made from old undies. Part of me feels like this should become the new norm, too. It might help us on our quest to avoid running into people we haven't seen since that awkward thing that happened at the office Christmas party in 2009.

So here we are, in this newly emptier supermarket, costumes on, but now there's no toilet paper. The panic-shoppers got in first. Psychologically, there are a number of reasons people panic-buy and hoard supplies during a crisis. Recent research published by Sheu and Kuo describes this act of hoarding as a 'human's response, either rationally or emotionally, to scarcity, and so may occur on either the supply or demand side.”

We hoard when we are scared; that essential supplies will run out, that our families will be left without. We hoard to minimise this risk of being without and to feel more in control of our situation.

This is a scary situation to be in, something we have not encountered before. And somehow, having enough toilet paper and flour for the next few months is making some of us feel a little better. Like it's a little more manageable. I think that's really what it comes down to, not necessarily filling your entire boot with toilet paper, but finding small things you can do that will make this stressful time a little more manageable for you.

Be gentle with yourself, be patient with others.