Are students’ families hoarding necessities or keeping calm

By Evans Baker
April 26, 2020

With the Coronavirus pandemic reaching across almost every corner of the globe, people are trying to prepare for the worst, some in all the wrong ways. 

Ever since the beginning of the spread of the COVID-19 virus many people have been going to their local grocery stores to stockpile supplies. The reason for this excessive purchasing in common goods comes after President Trump’s announcement of U.S. quarantine. 

The most popular items people have been stockpiling are food, masks and health and cleaning supplies. 

Supermarket by Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine, on Flickr
In the beginning of the quarantine, many people fled to their local super markets and bought supplies as if their lives depended on it. “Supermarket” (Public Domain) by Open Grid Scheduler / Grid Engine

Many of these people are buying more than what they need, leaving the rest of the shoppers with little left on the shelves. Some have even purchased necessary supplies like Purell to price gouge said items at a high markup.

“My family has definitely been buying groceries in greater quantities than we usually do, but other than my mother no one leaves the house for any reason,” John Morrison, a freshman at Cabrini, said. “We’re all sticking to social distancing and quarantining for as long as possible.”

Morrison is calm about the whole situation and using the CDC guidelines. However, he is still worried about the rising number of people getting diagnosed with the virus everyday. But even with that concern, Morrison and his family are not stockpiling any goods and remain calm in this situation.   

Groceries by basykes, on Flickr
The pandemic has truly caused some people to buy more than what they need, leaving other people in the dust. “Groceries” (CC BY 2.0) by basykes

“We haven’t really stock piled anything other than an extra gallon of milk or extra eggs, but that’s about it,” Pat Bell, a sophomore at Cabrini, said. Bell also said that he and his family are only buying an extra item here and there, but there is a difference between buying an extra item and buying a large quantity to hoard or price gouge.    

“I’ve been pretty calm about the whole situation. No stockpiling, only buying the necessities,” Aidan Meagher, a senior at Cabrini, said. “Obviously listening to authorities about what to do, staying inside and all that.” Meagher also said that he is keeping his head down and trying to keep himself busy during the pandemic but other than that he is calm about the whole situation.

Today, the stockpiling of items has gone down quite a bit. However, in the terms of cleaning supplies, those aisles of almost every store remain empty. On a good note, food and other resources remain plentiful.  If things do become dire, President Trump has issued the Defense Production Act, an act that can be used and was created during the Korean war to manufacture necessary supplies.

 

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Evans Baker

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