Hey New Jersey, Stop Panic Buying at the Food Store

In case you avoid the news at all costs, longshoremen and dockworkers are currently on strike on the East Coast.

The two main issues that prompted the strike are wages and AI. The workers are seeking higher wages and are protesting the use of AI on their ports.

The strike is expected to have a vast economic impact, as the East Coast ports are much busier than those on the West Coast.

Not long after the strike was announced, people went into panic mode.

It is like a giant snowstorm and COVID combined and people are clearing stores out of essentials.

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As I was scrolling through TikTok I found a video from a woman in New Jersey, who described her experience at her local Costco.

Kristin Dolan, the poster, explained that she went to Costco on her usual grocery shopping day and appeared flabbergasted by the scene she arrived at.

She was there around noon on Tuesday, October 1st, and was told that the day previous was more of the same.

Dolan pulled into a packed parking lot, with few spots available. She joked that they were running out of parking spots like they were a product.

She continued to joke telling people to "just walk there."

Just as it was during COVID, toilet paper was being cleared off of the shelves.

I never thought I would experience mass toilet paper hoarding in my lifetime again.

Paper towels and baby wipes were also being bought up and the shelves were becoming scarce.

For some reason, bottled water was filling up the other shoppers' carts.

Dolan commented, confused, "I don't know what it is with everybody and their bottled water."

I concur with that sentiment. I very rarely buy bottled water by the case.

Rather than hoarding cases of bottled water, just get a Britta Filter.

The New Jersey woman encouraged others not to go to Costco or other food stores if they don't have to because "it's not worth it."

I, again, concur.

Please New Jersey, please stop panic hoarding. If this strike becomes more of an issue, all you are doing is making it harder for the stores, others, and maybe eventually yourself.

Panic buying is frustrating enough, but there are other things New Jerseyans do at food stores that drive us nuts.

It's also really expensive.