Over the last weekend, America faced an Arctic blast of cold air that caused several inches of snow and brutally cold temperatures of negative degree. Winter Storm Fern did cause tragedy, but it also left many people wondering about the sociology behind storm preparedness.
One such woman is Ms. Bernadeen Mabel, who just could not believe the ‘furor of mad shopper’ who descended upon her local neighborhood market.
“Well I asks, ‘What they going to do with all that toilet paper, and no a** in which to wipe it. Like her, she ain’t got nothing back there that needs all that for a week of snow.”
Like many other shoppers, Ms. Bernadeen went to the store to find shelves empty.
“No water. No milk. No eggs. And surely no Kleenex or toilet paper. People act like they cannot live two days without ransacking the stores.”
Nationwide, similar sociological behaviors were reported, with Walmart store customers in the heartlands citing anecdotal reports of “1 to 2 hour” waiting lines, with multiple lines available. Some noted lines wrapped to the front through the back of the large warehouse style stores. Customers of Wegemans, Kroger and smaller grocery stores reported more of the same.
As for Ms. Bernadeen, she believes one thing. “These people are going to look plum fools come next week, little trolls sitting in their house full of rotten milk and overflowing eggs, and all that damned toilet paper they cannot even fit in the closet.”
Why Do People Really Buy So Much Toilet Paper When A “Big Event” Is Taking Place?
As Ms. Bernadeen posited after using empirical methods of observation, ‘where are they going to wipe all that toilet paper when they have no a** in which to wipe it?’
As perhaps proven during the Y2K scare and mentions of pandemic, humans may tend to go out and buy all that they can when there is a mass event that has captured everyone’s attention.
A key point to consider is the core human behavior and function of anxiety. While some people may have an anxiety disorder, anxiety is something that is evolutionarily present in most people to varying degrees.
Anxiety is a core element of survival. Think back hundreds of years, far before humans realized the backside could be cleaned with processed plent elements or if you’re truly advanced, bidets.
After a day running through plains, living off the land, and building a massive fire beneath a stony overlook, an ancient human suddenly felt the urge to call upon relief from the rough dinner of game and grains. At this point, the human is smart enough to know, ‘Hey, don’t take a Duke Bluedevil in the camp.’ These were very smart and astute ancient humans.
And as such, running beyond the camp, going number two/Duke, the human caught wind of rustling. Instantly, mid-scheisse, the persons runs back to the camp to live another day. That is good anxiety. Turns out it was a pack of wolves.
Humans carry the same mechanisms for anxiety, dopamine focus and more that served the brain well in instruction in our primitive days. Things like heavy snowfall give opportunity for us to carry it out, especially when groups of other humans are also panic buying and stocking (primitive traits come alive in our spoiled modern world).
The psychological term for this is