I was in my local Pic N' Save today picking up cheap candles for a 2001 emergency kit. It was so packed with people one could not even obtain a hand held carry basket. One could not turn about and the lines were ungodly. The checker said she is seeing that way every day since two weeks ago and it is worsening. One may not even be able to enter the store a bit down the road. The crowds are Christmas shoppers.

Be careful. You're not going to make it in stores to make a last minute preparation purchase. Obviously something is happening out there. Perhaps because it is the millennium change "Christmas," people are operating from the subconscious that this could be "the last," or the economy has been strong and long enough that people are whooping it up?

I wouldn't have said this if it wasn't so out of norm for even the Christian shopping season and down right surreal. It was what one would expect to see the week before Christmas.

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 13, 1999

Answers

Are you suggesting people dont believe the most ethical administration in history?

-- nervous nellie (nervous@nellie.com), November 13, 1999.

Spent today topping off my supplies. I'm in the midwest. Stores no more crowded than usual for this time of year. No apparent shortages of anything.

At Sam's Club, the cashier said "You must be getting ready for that Y2k thing," with a smile, as if it were a joke. Looked at what other people were buying: beer, chips, toys.

-- Not Whistlin Dixie (not_whistlin_dixie@yahoo.com), November 13, 1999.

I live in the upper midwest and nothing unusual here. Actually has been rather quiet in the stores, restaurants, etc.

-- (Observer@yadayada.com), November 13, 1999.

There's that word again. Haven't heard it since...the Nostradamus predictions of the summer!

Really

-- it's really (surreal@surreal.surreal), November 13, 1999.

A funny thing happened today on my trip to Sunny's Surplus an outdoor camping store in Virginia. I have been trying Mountain House freeze dried food s out to see what I should buy for the family and which ones they prefer. So the other day they were fully stocked with ever variety available. Today they were cleaned out. So what do you make of th

-- jhock (jhock34981@erols.com), November 13, 1999.

Wal-mart still has oil lamps, quite a few, for $10, and even a few for $6. That's one barometer that the "masses" are not prepping. Another is that I STILL see oil lamps & chimneys at garage sales. Face it, folks, the herd is thinking only of Christmas. We're still the paranoid fringe.

-- still prepping after (all@these.months), November 13, 1999.

Last Saturday, Walmart had a large display of boxed oil lamps with two bottles of lamp oil. Today, one week later, the entire display was gone! Unless people are giving oil lamps as Christmas presents, some are starting to prepare.

-- Ruth Edwards (REath29646@aol.com), November 13, 1999.

All Y2K is local. Q.E.D.

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), November 13, 1999.

Yeah, that's it. Little Johhny is getting cases of tuna for Christmas. Bettysue has a birthday so close to Christmas, that we thought: what the heck, we'd go ahead and splurge on the extra firewood. Talk about camouflage for gathering supplies-who's going to notice? Don't you just love shopping? :)

-- chairborne commando (what-me-worry@armageddon.con), November 13, 1999.

Apparently not many believed in Y2K until Clinton denied it.

-- goldbug (goldbug@mint.com), November 13, 1999.

Oregon coast; seems as nothing unusual except-that white helicopter w/spray unit attached making 5 or 6 passes. Eugene city govmint bunkering up with the feds in their building come summer 2000. New "emergency" phone system. New NOAA broadcasts w/british accent. New gun laws. New prosecutorial laws. New... But the population in general not noticing it seems. Yep, everythings about the same here.

-- All ahlone (very_fy@yahoo.com), November 13, 1999.

goldbug,

:-)

-- Onebyone (susanwater@excite.com), November 13, 1999.

Oil lamps last many years and aren't a measure. What one has to do is glance at the wicks and the oil. That is the "measure."

Oil lamps abound at my Super K-mart but you can forget oil and wicks. Those shelves are gutted lickety split. The only place in my area that still has some wicks is Ace Hardware because people don't expect to find them there.

Ooh it was bad out there today. Lines at Smart & Final and lines at Pic n' Save. I'm trying to pack a box for 2001 of some items that might be very difficult to obtain that I might need, and was forced to go forth into it all. (Candles, lighters, a bit of canned fruit, tea, coffee, and so forth.)

Is anyone else starting to look at 2001 with dread? I reason its worth a good packing box of what Randy in Alas, Babylon would call "iron rations."

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 13, 1999.

Here, in a place in Canada that gets VERY cold in winter, which by the way lasts well into late March, I see NO evidence of people stockpiling ANYTHING.

Today, at Wal-Mart, there are still lots of $1000 generators sitting in the aisles, ther is still a full camping goods section(meaning Arctic sleeping bags, lamps, propane cylinders, etc.,).

Meanwhile, Christmas tunes are playing ad nauseum, and I see nothing in anyone's shopping carts to indicate that they are stocking up...it's all Xmas stuff.

Whatever happened to ABE lincoln's famous saying about "You can fool all of the people some of the time..."?

-- profit of doom (doom@helltopay.ca), November 13, 1999.

Don't waste your money on freeze dried/dehydrated foods. You don't need long term storables at this point, you can do better with local stores and regular foods. I was a MHouse dealer and while the stuff is good it isn't a part of my storage. I got a few (okay about 50) cases of stuff from LDS in #10 cans and have about an equivalent amount of canned stuff (tuna, chili, canned meats, veggies, fruit, pie fillings, soups, pasta and sauces, etc.) from Safeway, Albertsons, Costco. You can still do well at normal retail sources and get much better bang for the buck.

-- Don Kulha (dkulha@vom.com), November 13, 1999.

Yeah, I am glad I am able to use the "I do a lot of baking for the holidays" excuse! My Sam's membership expired (why bother renewing now, right?) so I was at my local store today, as I am every Saturday and I thought the 6 bags of flour and 6 bags of sugar looked kinda weird. I used that excuse. The checker actually said "You must have a BIG family, huh?" I laughed and said "HUGE" Actually I have one child. My new joke is that it is time to stop shopping when I can no longer seen anything on the cart but the handle and the wheels. I have to actually search for my purse when I get to the check-out stand. To tell you the truth, I can't wait for this thing to get here now. How sick I am of lugging home $150 worth of groceries a WEEK (though, don't get me wrong--very thankful that I can) and marking the date purchased on everything, putting the new stuff in the back, organizing and re-organizing everything. This is a full time job, and I already have one of those! We have been prepping for well over a year. Y2K fatigue, big time.

Anyway, to the original spirit of this post--I didn't notice any extra crowds or anything. Odd thing, though---bottled water was one of the LOSS LEADERS at my grocery store. A loss leader??? Very very strange. The banner headline said "STOCK UP YOUR PANTRY".

(cue the Twilight Zone music)

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), November 14, 1999.

We have a Pic N Save near us too, which was stuffed full of people. And BOY were they buying - fake poinsettias, dancing Santas, garlands, wine glasses with 2000 on the stems, gift wrapping, etc.

A few people grazing through the cereal boxes - not much action in the food section. They're all brain dead here.

-- 5R2K (fiver2000@yahoo.com), November 14, 1999.

I noticed yesterday at Wal-Mart something I thought was strange, the camping section was stocked to the point of being over stocked. In particular outdoor cooking supplies, lanterns, wicks, coleman fuel, small propane bottles, every kind of lantern you could imagine, cast iron cookware etc. We have always been avid campers, and every Christmas I try to buy these kinds of items for my sons, to add to their camping equipment. (so they won't borrow mine) I was turly surprised. Of course I was the ony one looking at this stuff....Also about 2mo ago our local Sam's had blue 50 gallon drums for sale, my daughter called and told me about them, I wasn't in a hurry to go get one I waited about 3 wks, they were all gone. That surprised me..Our Sam's now has more of the bean and rice on hand and other Y2k needs then they had in the past, maybe a few folks around here are wakeing up, oh, Our local Albertson's is selling Del Monte canned veggies 3 for $1.00, now this is not unusal, however they are leaving them wrapped in the case lots sitting in the floor (usually if you want them like that they would have to pull them down off the shelves or get them from the back)Their sign even tells you how much you save if you buy the whole case, they have also done other items this way lately. I am new to this forum and have found it to be very informative, for some reason I feel the need to hear the views of other, maybe John Kosh#@*'s spin is starting to get to me...babble..babble..mow..oink..duh

-- madhousewife (redneck@Tx.west), November 14, 1999.

I'd assume WalMart is bracing for The Day Before The Storm people, though I do recall at this time last year it and Super K both had sprawling and overflowing camping sections which were gutted by those of us in the gov instigated pre-panic. WalMart placed its small propanes in cases out in the middle of the floor to avoid restocking the shelves and those cases all sold.

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 14, 1999.

I hear you preparing!

-- nothere nothere (notherethere@hotmail.com), November 15, 1999.

Profit of Doom, We also live in a Northern area of Canada where winter lasts until March. Boy are we preparing. Though percentage wise compared to actual population the amount is small, I think the number of people preparing is more than you know. Noone wants to talk about it because they don't want to be remembered by those who did nothing.

-- Silver Star (MarkingTime@inback40.com), November 15, 1999.