13 March

I did an experiment this morning because I'm sick of the 'hoarding' idea around toilet paper. I got up early and went to observe the rumoured 6am rush to buy fresh supplies at the local Coles. It was real, maybe 20-30 people queued up outside the shop. When they got inside, there was one pallet of toilet paper, which all went in about a minute. Maybe 20-30 packs. That wouldn't be enough toilet paper to supply even ordinary daily purchases at a big supermarket. We love goodie and baddie stories, the hoarding idea gives us somebody to blame. But all that's likely happened (with toilet paper, pasta, hand sanitiser etc.) is that products that normally only a proportion of people want each week, are now products people ALL want, every week. It's not rocket science. We're so collectively ignorant of the basic logistics of society that we can't seem to understand any situation without turning it into a tabloid story about goodies and baddies.