Is everything normal in your neck of the woods?

[Diznygrl]

Well, if I didn't already know, I suppose I might have found it curious that Winco's bottled water supply was dwindling (they're a warehouse store so all the pallets are on huge shelves above the main display), but would have just thought, "Hmm, guess their shipment is running late." Other than that I wouldn't have noticed since all the food supply is the same. Even with the medication supply being a tad picked over I would assume that it's just normal cold/flu season where people buy more of that stuff.

What would have REALLY triggered the "Something's not right" sense in me is going to Bath&BodyWorks and having not a single bottle of hand sanitizer in sight. I'm a bit of a hand sanitizing fiend on a good day and that's where I buy all of mine. I would have had to ask what happened to it all, though I'm not sure what response I would have received!

It may seem kind of silly, but it's the complete lack of hand sanitizer available anywhere in the country that has me twiddling my thumbs, LOL. I keep hoping that this mad panic will have settled down by the time I run out of my own supply, but now I'm not so sure....kicking myself for thinking a few weeks ago I didn't "need" anymore right now.

*and before you say "rubbing alcohol and aloe vera", yeah, those are pretty much gone too since the geniuses on tv decided to tell everyone how to make their own!

 

[RamblingMad]

Are folks actually using the hand sanitizer, or are they hoarding it?

 

[tinkerhon]

In NYC and so many people are wearing masks - it's eerie ! Shelves are bare as far as hand soaps and sanitizers, but don't really see people hoarding/stockpiling food

 

[Toolulu22]

Quiet at the gym, at Lowes, and the library. Went to breakfast yesterday at a local place that doesn’t take reservations and usually has a 20 min or more wait and a full parking lot, we parked up front and were immediately seated. Many teachers in my school were out today, not sure if that will continue. Today one, and now a second nearby district has closed, so if they have kids in those districts they are likely home with kids. Traffic on the LIE was light this morning in general- some may be telecommuting, some local colleges are now on online teaching only as well.

 

[Atlas722]

Normal in Northwest Ohio.

 

[Kitty 34]

My oldest DS called me on his way home from work today (works downtown Detroit) and said his job suspended all business travel today. He also is awaiting an e-mail to see if starting tomorrow some of their groups do a trial "work from home" scenario.

 

[Wendy31]

Are folks actually using the hand sanitizer, or are they hoarding it?

Even before the virus outbreak, I used hand sanitizer. I have a medium-sized bottle in my vehicle, a smaller bottle in my handbag, a smaller bottle in my school bag, & a large bottle at home to refill my smaller bottles. My kids carry & use hand sanitizer as well.

I already had one large bottle at home that was still full, so I just bought one more large bottle 2 weeks ago.

I really didn’t think it would be this crazy, or I would have bought more when I had the chance.

 

[VandVsmama]

Overall, it's pretty normal in our area so far. This week and next are spring break weeks for a lot of school districts in the area.

We were originally planned to be in Anaheim starting Saturday of this past weekend through Wednesday of this week, but we rescheduled it to Easter weekend because YDD came down with the flu...regular influenza (yes, we were vaccinated this year, but the vaccine was 60% effective this year). Tamiflu did the trick and her fever broke within 24 hr, but she felt run down and lousy through yesterday morning.

Now my kids are basically going to hang out here at home all week binge watching TV and playing video games.

DH stayed away from his Type 2 diabetic immune system-compromised mom until YDD was better and entirely off of the Tamiflu.

Their school has a lot of kids whose parents are from overseas. On Friday, the school included a statement in the weekly Friday school newsletter that if you choose to travel to certain countries that the CDC recommends against traveling to, that the school will expect you & your family to self-quarantine for 2 weeks upon your return to the US from the trip.

People are panic-buying TP like it's the end of the world. It's silly in my opinion.

DH & I are still going to work and all that. The Earth is still turning on its axis. Everything's going to be ok. We're just washing our hands a lot more and are more aware of not touching our faces after touching surfaces.

 

[fla4fun]

My Publix store was low on wipes, but I picked up a couple because I was out anyway. I didn’t look for hand sanitizer. I have some at home, but it treats my skin badly so I will do soap and water for the most part. There were signs limiting people to two of most cleaning and paper products, but there was decent stock available as a result. I did not notice any food shortages and didn’t notice any overloaded carts. Decent stock of cold meds on the shelf, but I had already stocked up on that since I was low after a cold.

I have a gazillion hotel soaps, shampoos and conditioners, so at least I will be clean!

No signs of trouble otherwise.

 

[gillep]

Are folks actually using the hand sanitizer, or are they hoarding it?

I hate hand sanitizer and try not to use it, in general, in favor of washing my hands often. I purchased some a couple weeks ago for the first time. I purchased one normal sized pump bottle that I keep in my car to sanitize my hands after shopping, before I can get home to wash them properly. I wish I had bought one for my husband's car as well, but didn't for whatever reason. I hope people are actually using what they purchase, since I really would like to find one more, but my guess is that some people bought way more than they could reasonably use.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

People at church are greeting each other with elbow bumps. Plus attendance was a little sparse this week, although that happens with the switch to DST.

Local grocery stores are low in cleaning supplies and toilet paper.

Besides that, things are normal

 

[SmallWorld71]

Southeastern Massachusetts -

Stores are out of travel packs of hand sanitizer wipes, and the little bottles, but the regular plastic tubes of cleaning wipes are still in stock, as are TP, paper towels, etc.

DH and I went to an early movie yesterday afternoon, and there weren't too many people (but I think that had far more to do with location and time than anything else). We went to dinner after, and the restaurant was full of people of all ages.

I stopped briefly at CVS and the grocery store on my way home from work, and neither were busy at all - to the point that I did actually notice.

I am in the same area as you and my observations have been similar as far as shopping and availability of items goes.
Things have become very noticeable in a bad way at DH’s work. He works for a local livery company whose main business is transporting people to the airport. A month ago, they were thriving. Today they are at less than 25% of where they normally are. Not sure if they can hang on or not.
And, Boston’s mayor just cancelled the Saint Patrick’s Day parade. That’s a big blow to a lot of people and businesses.

 

[mikehn]

Im baffled as to how this happened.

I have 8 reservations booked on Southwest. I went into my account this morning to check to see if fares went down on any of them. To my astonishment, 2 of the 8 reservations disappeared. I checked my account activity and could see that those two reservations had been cancelled over night and refunds were issued back to my account. Then I checked my email and saw two emails from Southwest, one for each of the cancelled reservations. The emails were time stamped at 1:54 am. I was sober last night and sound asleep at 1:54 am. Fortunately I was able to rebook them at the same cost. Still scratching my head.

 

[kirstenb1]

Central Va, pretty normal here.

 

[AndreaDM]

Im baffled as to how this happened.

I have 8 reservations booked on Southwest. I went into my account this morning to check to see if fares went down on any of them. To my astonishment, 2 of the 8 reservations disappeared. I checked my account activity and could see that those two reservations had been cancelled over night and refunds were issued back to my account. Then I checked my email and saw two emails from Southwest, one for each of the cancelled reservations. The emails were time stamped at 1:54 am. I was sober last night and sound asleep at 1:54 am. Fortunately I was able to rebook them at the same cost. Still scratching my head.

my niece just had a hotel reservation cancelled for this weekend, she has every intention of keeping it but can’t get through to anyone on the phone to take care of it.

 

[kiddo76]

I am in the same area as you and my observations have been similar as far as shopping and availability of items goes.
Things have become very noticeable in a bad way at DH’s work. He works for a local livery company whose main business is transporting people to the airport. A month ago, they were thriving. Today they are at less than 25% of where they normally are. Not sure if they can hang on or not.
And, Boston’s mayor just cancelled the Saint Patrick’s Day parade. That’s a big blow to a lot of people and businesses.

Totally shocked about this. My FB feed just blew up and people are not happy. Won't this just put more people drinking inside the bars than outside on the streets? I wonder if the Marathon will eventually be affected as well?

 

[SmallWorld71]

Totally shocked about this. My FB feed just blew up and people are not happy. Won't this just put more people drinking inside the bars than outside on the streets? I wonder if the Marathon will eventually be affected as well?

I was shocked to hear it too. And, I am not really sure how it helps as other big gatherings are still happening. (Bruins game, for example) The virus is either out there or it isn’t. Seems like it would just incite anger and/or panic. I hadn’t even thought of the marathon!

 

[MamaLema]

I’m in Southern Ontario, Canada.

Yup, I’m shocked people are panicking this bad here. There was no meat or bread in Costco at all.
My boss doesn’t cook and said she went to buy some canned soup for dinner and there was not 1 can left.
No cleaning products at all. No cereal.
I read on another thread you can make your own hand sanitizer from rubbing alcohol and aloe Vera gel.
Could find either at the pharmacy.
Definitely not normal here

 

[quandrea]

Yup, I’m shocked people are panicking this bad here. There was no meat or bread in Costco at all.
My boss doesn’t cook and said she went to buy some canned soup for dinner and there was not 1 can left.
No cleaning products at all. No cereal.
I read on another thread you can make your own hand sanitizer from rubbing alcohol and aloe Vera gel.
Could find either at the pharmacy.
Definitely not normal here☹

I’m just using straight rubbing alcohol on surfaces. Hydrogen peroxide works too. Lots of both at the store last night (Metro). I just wonder what people are cleaning with prior to this?

 

[spiders]

Suburb about 30 minutes south of Atlanta

For the most part, pretty normal. I went to Publix the other day and it was mostly stocked. Honestly what we have been talking about at work the most is how stupid we think everyone else is.