Toilet paper out? Hoarding starts again
Here we go again with them ad, frenzied, perplexing run on paper goods.
It’s adéjàvu moment, with paper towels and toilet paper flying off the shelves, just like they did back in March when Florida was on lock down near the start of the corona virus pandemic.
But this latest rush on paper goods has some inquiring minds questioning why it’s happening all over again when Florida Gov. Ron De Santis has not issue dany lockdown orders and doesn’t appear likely to do so anytime soon.
Experts blame it on the fear and uncertainty triggered by a recent spike in coronavirus cases nationwide.
More than 56.7 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 across the
globe— and more than 11.6 million in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University.
Worldwide, more than 1.3 million people have died fromthe highly infectious coronavirus. The U.S. has the highest number of deaths, with 251,970.
“It’s a factor of fear,” said Siri Terjesen, a business professor at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. Even though Florida isn’t in lockdown right now, “we still have relatives in other states and we see they are in lockdown. And we project and prepare for the future. Just like squirrels know winter is coming and store the nuts.”
Supermarket chains, well aware of the spike in demand, are already starting to ration how many packages customers can buy.
Lastweek, Publix started telling shoppers they can buy only two packages of bath tissue and paper towels, said Maria Brous, a spokeswoman for the grocery store chain. Stores seeing extreme shortages are limiting purchases to one per customer.
Lorna Owens, a Coconut Grove attorney who recently moved to the Orlando area, raced to the store to buy toilet paper after seeing a news report onthe latest hoarding trend.
“I didn’t want to go through that mental drama like I did last time where I was down to two rolls,” she said. “I went out and bought 12 rolls. Whatever comes, I’m ready.”
Owens wasn’t sure why other shoppers were loading up on paper goods, but she suspects it has something to do with trying to control their own anxiety about an uncertain future.
“These things are triggers,” Owens said. “Weh ave to be careful telling people they are crazy for buying toilet paper. We are still in the trauma zone.”
Terjesen, the FAU professor, confesses to having a garage full of toiletpaper, all purchased by her husband.
“If you open our garage, our neighbors will say, ‘You guys have a lot of toilet paper,’ ” she said. “In a pandemic, there are very few things you can control. We can’t predict the stock market or whether or not we will be furloughed. But we can take control over how much toilet paper we have in thehouse. That may give some people a sense of security.”
In times of trouble, you’d hope that people would be mindful of their fellowman. But that is not always realistic, experts say.
Hoarding begets hoarding, especially during a pandemic.
If you see other shoppers grabbing all the paper goods they can, it’s likely to spark copy cat behavior, said Gene Cash, professor of psychology at Nova Southeastern University.
“Instead of buying two paper towels, you buy six,” he said. “There’s kind of a crowd mentality to that. When you see people inthe crowd running one way, you tend to run thatway too.”
Cash says there’s a big difference between the mentally ill hoarders whose homes are packed with things they don’t need and the “realistic hoarders” who are prepping for a supply shortage in the middle of a pandemic.
“There’s not really anything wrong with them ,” Cash said. “They’re doing what’s good for them and for their family. But there is now a shortage of paper goods, and they are contributing to the shortage. Those people tend to be a little bit selfish in times of trouble.”