I was patriotic today and you can be patriotic too!

I went to the store today and pitched in to help my fellow Americans deal with the crisis.

The store had 3 bottles of rubbing alcohol.  I didn't buy any because we've got 3 bottles at home.

The store had one package of four bars of Ivory Soap. I didn't buy it because we have about 8 bars at home.

They didn't have any toilet paper but my wife and I had already decided that unless there was a lot of toilet paper we wouldn't buy any because we have enough.  We did say that since one of her relatives is unable to shop we might buy some for him if they had a lot.

They had a reasonable amount of the bread we eat but we didn't buy it because they didn't have too and we have 1.5 loaves at home.

The reality is that we can beat the shortages by simply assuming that society isn't going to collapse and only buying what we need.

Face it if society collapses and we can never get toilet paper again no matter how much you've hoarded you'll be running out within a year.

The young people who are unlikely to die from COVID19 are also the people who keep our electricity on, our tap water flowing, and food in the stores.  That's because in the case of the Wuhan Flu young people are pretty much everyone under 60.  And even the older people are more likely to live than die from the virus by a significant margin.

So buy what you need for the next two weeks and also practice conservation.  Don't waste food.  Use less toilet paper--my ex Army buddy swears that one square is all you need.  Dry your hands with real towels not paper ones.

You might ask why my wife and I have stuff.  No we didn't rush out and buy lots when the shelter in place order was announced.

We've got 5 kids, all grown now, so we developed the COSTCO mentality; buy in bulk.  As the kids have left instead of buying in bulk weekly we buy in bulk every few months.

This is good because it saves us money and because we live in an area that has natural disasters occasionally so that having a ready store of essentials is a good idea.

Through the grace of God the virus hit near the beginning of one of our bulk buying cycles so we're well prepared.

You don't need to be fanatical preper with a bunker full of food to be prepared.

Once the stores stocks are replenished and the shortages are over, which won't be that far in the future, identify stuff that you'll need in a crisis. Then build a little stockpile by buying an extra can or two or whatever you need every time you go to the store until you've got a two weeks worth of supplies.

During WWII everything was rationed because about 40% of the economy was going to the DoD--incorrectly entitled the "War Department" back then.

Nothing you're facing today is as bad as what they had to deal with for more than 4 years.