Should I Pack 2 Ballgowns, or 3?

Most of us have seen this meme, or variants:

The Twitter thread that follows it is rather hilarious, and I highly recommend it in these trying times*.
Speaking of trying times, that's why I've decided to start blogging again. 3 weeks of enforced isolation at home is rapidly going to devolve into everyone in this house sitting around in dirty pjs playing video games while watching old episodes of The British Baking Show and eating peanut butter straight out of the jar unless there's some pre-intervention. So I mandated that every family member must embark on a personal-improvement and a home-improvement project, plus at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. With luck, we'll get at least one of those per person, so fingers crossed.
My self-improvement? Going back to blogging. I like it, it's good for reducing anxiety, and having some structured "you must sit down and write" time is good for me. And hey, everyone else is stuck at home, too, scrolling the interwebs, so why not add more content?
This whole post began in my head after reading yet another "Why the hell is everyone buying ALL THE THINGS?" posts on Facebook. They're doing it, partially, for the same reason that I pack 6 extra pairs of underwear for a 3 day trip. It's just the uncertainty of it. Especially for folks who hadn't been plugged into social media or the news for the last week or so, things were chugging along fine, with a few shutdowns, some "take precautions" and then suddenly: SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED FOR THREE WEEKS. EVERYONE WORK FROM HOME. DON'T TOUCH OTHER HUMANS AND KEEP 1 METER AWAY FROM THEM AT ALL TIMES.
Holy *%&! What?
The unprecedented in our lifetimes has happened, and we don't know how bad it will get, how long it will last or what other sudden-seeming impositions will spring up. Will we lose safe water? Electricity? Utilities? Will there be a total curfew? Will all stores close? What's the worst case scenario here?
And the answer is: nobody really knows.
Most predictions are that all utilities will be fine, stores will stay open, we can still move about as needed and the shutdowns will flatten the infection curve enough to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed.
But we don't know. Not for sure. And that brings on the anxiety. And nobody knows for sure how long we will be semi-quarantined at home with our kids or family, or without kids and family and nobody at all and that brings on the anxiety, too.
All this extra shopping? It's the Coronavirus equivalent of packing the extra underwear. And as more people do it, and more goods disappear off the shelves, the more folks want to stock up. Just in case.
So cut those folks a little bit of a break. We all get a little crazy when we try to predict the future and have all possibilities from "It'll all be fine in 3 weeks" to "Zombie Apocalypse Imminent!"
So cut yourself, and everyone else a little slack, give the stores time to re-stock, and be sure to have clean spoons handy for the peanut butter.
Peace.


*I highly recommend trying to read the funniest ones out loud to loved ones in the vicinity. I laughed so hard I cried, and couldn't read coherently.