I ventured out into the wild today.
The two main things I was armed with were a long list of grocery items and a sandwich bag that Patty had filled with disinfectant wipes.
I hadn’t been to the store, or stores, since the weekend, which is a long time for me. In ordinary times, we tend to shop nearly day to day, and I’m adjusting to thinking longer term.
On my last trip, over the weekend, I learned that finding everything on a lengthy list meant going to several stores. For example, for wild Salmon and Milton’s crackers, it’s Brookside Market; for reasonably priced, sliced ham and swiss cheese, it’s Price Chopper at 85th and Wornall; and for milk, broccoli, cauliflower, oranges, bread, cookies, Greek yogurt and other basics, it’s Aldi at Meyer and Troost. (The first few times I patronized Aldi, I couldn’t believe how far $20 went.)
I started my odyssey at Aldi and got quite a few items on the list. The store was well stocked and not very busy, unlike over the weekend, when it had closed midday for restocking and a group of people milled outside awaiting the 2 p.m. grand reopening.
Although we didn’t need toilet paper, out of curiosity I went down the paper goods aisle and saw, not surprisingly, there was none.
My next stop was Brookside Market, the most expensive store in town, along with Whole Foods. I got two-plus pounds of Salmon, the crackers and a couple of other items. The tab: more than $50.
Out of curiosity, I went down the paper goods aisle and saw…no toilet paper.
Then I headed to Whole Foods. The only brand of potato chips I like is Boulder, and that’s the only store in Greater Brookside that carries them. I picked up two bags.
I also went down the paper goods aisle and saw…no toilet paper.
My last stop in Brookside was CVS. There I got some Kleenex, two plastic bottles of dish soap and a jar of moisturizing cream for Patty.
I went down the paper goods aisle and saw…empty shelves where the toilet paper used to be.
By this time, I was pretty…pretty proud of my purchases — although I wasn’t finished — and I stopped by the house to drop off what I had before heading out again.
Patty urged me to have lunch before leaving, but I didn’t want to break my momentum. And besides, I didn’t have what I needed for lunch, the sliced ham and cheese for a sandwich.
I was hoping Price Chopper at 85th and Wornall would be my last stop. I still needed a few other items, such as baking potatoes and zucchini, and I thought surely those would be available at Price Chopper. I was wrong.
Before leaving I made a point of going down the paper goods aisle. Yes…I mean no. No toilet paper.
So, as I had planned (damn, I planned this well!), on the way back home I stopped at Hy-Vee, 79th and State Line Road, which is my grocery ace in the hole. It’s big, well stocked and, you know, they’ve got those smiles in almost every aisle.
Sure enough, I found the last items I needed, including the potatoes and zucchini.
I almost forgot to go down the paper goods aisle but did so at the last minute.
There, to my utter shock, several employees had just arrived with a skid of Angel Soft toilet paper, and they began loading it on the empty shelves. I stood almost transfixed, watching this magnificent sight, which just a month ago would have been totally mundane.
Even though I was pretty sure our toilet paper supply at home was quite good, I called Patty just to make sure. She confirmed that we didn’t need any. As I was about to leave, I heard one of the guys unloading the product say “It’ll be gone in about an hour.”
I didn’t go back to find out, but I took this photo to prove that what I saw today at Hy-Vee was not a mirage.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
I’m waiting to see the Wednesday inserts so I can laugh at what they’re offering at sale prices… and If they have any on the shelves.
Shelter in place, please!
Nothing has really changed. America has always had a sufficient supply of toilet paper and suddenly as if by sheer stupidity, we have a shortage. Now, we’re told to shelter in place and only go out for necessities and yet we stand asshole to belly button in store after store and today The Star announced that one of those necessities of life is Nebraska Furniture Mart. Who knew?
The stores I will remember after this is over are places like Costco that allowed people to buy entire shipments of toilet paper instead of limiting purchases to reasonable amounts. They more than anyone are responsible for the shortages.
I didn’t know exactly what the situation had been with Costco, but after Googling it, it appears you’re right — that some people were buying huge amounts and then reselling at a big premium on ebay and such. It looks like the stores started limiting purchases just last week.
That is very disappointing; I’m going to try to cut way back on my Costco purchases, although it’s hard to pull the plug altogether.
…Just want to clarify that The Star had nothing to do with Nebraska Furniture Mart staying open; they just reported the news. The UG ought to shut it down, if Warren Buffet won’t.
Kansas and Missouri have been lucky to be lightly hit with the virus so far, but NFM apparently isn’t interested in helping keep it that way.
This just in…Nebraska Furniture Mart is closing…I’m glad public and official pressure did the job.
Right, kudos to The Star for reporting on the NFM story. I was advised by a friend on the KCKPD that the store had been packed over the weekend and then saw The Star story on it this morning. The Star also gets credit for putting all of the virus information outside the paywall. Credit where credit is due.
“We’re told to shelter in place and only go out for necessities and yet we stand asshole to belly button in store after store.”
For God’s sake, people have to change their mindsets and accept that we can’t shop as if life is still normal. The whole point of the shelter-in-place order is to limit trips outside the home, thereby reducing the chances of spreading and contracting COVID-19. It’s simply irresponsible to make six shopping trips in one day while a shelter-in-place order is in effect.
Let me get this straight. We are all staying home from work and school and church and all the other things to flatten the curve. And you went to SIX STORES in one day. SIX PLACES where you could pick up the virus.
Or perhaps YOU have the virus. You could be ill and not know it for 14 days. So it is possible that you spread the disease in SIX PLACES.
Go to the grocery store once a week. Pick one store and make do with what you find there. Decrease the odds that you will come into contact with the virus or that you will spread the virus.
Be a good citizen.
Good suggestion. A.W. I’ll curb my enthusiasm…
Swope Memorial and Shoal Creek golf courses are open in honor of JimmyC. Observe distancing, except in the case of JimmyC’s drives!
I’m surprised those courses are open, Jack…Some of the members of the group I usually play with are playing at Swope tomorrow. I’m passing, though, partly, I guess, to try to make up for going to six stores today!
Regarding my drives…A year or so ago, I heard an Irish commentator say, “The volume of the call is directly linked to the wildness of the tee shot.”
The same people hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer are probably the same assholes who were originally saying that the coronavirus is a hoax. People say that catastrophic events bring people together. Baloney! They bring out the worst in people.