I bought a frozen pizza today. My freezer now holds two.
Also new to my larder of items not yet needed: canned soup, ground beef, frozen veggies, spray disinfectant, shaving cream. And paper towels.
Why?
Because you’re hoarding stuff. If you’re getting yours, dammit, then I’m grabbing mine.
It’s human nature to hoard in crises, according to psychologists quoted about the disappearance of that megafauna of necessities – toilet paper.
When faced with circumstances we can’t control, the psychologists say, we grasp at the appearance of control. We buy toilet paper and frozen pizzas even though neither will help against pandemic.
Social distancing is at least partly selfless. We separate to save the vulnerable and to avoid overwhelming hospitals. We’ve been broadly and remarkably selfless.
Hoarding is selfish and unnecessary. Squirrels need their nuts. We don’t need our TP caches. But our human nature, shaped in prehistory, overtakes reason. And we hoard.
I have a three-week supply of toilet paper but would have bought more today if available. I got paper towels instead and now am safe from … what?
Spills.
