Stop the hoarding mentality

On our weekly visit to King Soopers Sunday morning, we found many items were out-ofstock or nearly so -- not just toilet paper but bread, flour, bananas, and eggs, as well as canned soups, vegetables and fruit. The logic for this panic buying seems to be to stock up before your neighbors take it all, because the more you have on hand, the less you need to expose yourself to unsafe store environments and the nicer your daily life can continue to be.

This is unnecessary and unethical. I’m not a public health expert, but I would think that with a few common-sense precautions such as handwashing before and after and social distancing during shopping, the risk of becoming infected is lowered. And while it is understandable that high-risk individuals would want to avoid even low-risk settings, they can have their groceries delivered.

When we buy more than we need, our neighbors are less able to find what they need. Empty shelves could also increase the risk of disease transmission if more people go to more stores more often to find what was unavailable on their last trip. I volunteer for food distribution to low-income, disabled people, with part of each month’s allotment purchased from local stores. If the food is not there when we need it, these people will receive fewer items. So the next time you wheel a grocery cart overfilled with more than you normally use, realize that you are unnecessarily inconveniencing and possibly endangering your neighbors.

Brian Garrett,