Panic! At the Costco
How do you prepare for a disaster that leaves your city intact but destroys your way of life? Buy toilet paper.
Ifirst noticed it on Leap Day. On February 29, less than a week after Covid-19 was found in the United States, my local Costco parking lot was full. It was the same at Costcos and similar bulk-buying palaces around the world. On Twitter, people across North America posted photos of lines out the doors as folks waited for a store associate to disinfect their cart with a quick wipe before being allowed inside. Amid the towers of goods, shoppers — some wearing surgical gloves — stocked up on dry foods and household items.
In the week since, the lines have grown longer and the shelves emptier. Of all the items people are hoarding, toilet paper has become the focus of our attention. When I returned to Costco later in the week, this time during the evening, a toilet paper roll sat in virtually every cart in sight. The run on toilet paper is happening everywhere: North America, Europe, Japan. Over the weekend, two women were charged after fighting in the aisles of a Woolworths in Sydney, Australia, over packages of toilet paper.
