This may not be “The End of the World as we Know it” (sorry about the R.E.M. ear worm), but I believe you can just about see the end from the Food Lion grocery store in Marshall, Virginia. The only time I’ve seen this many empty shelves was at a store in East Berlin in the early ‘80s.

This virus has everyone second guessing themselves and thinking twice about things. Of course we all know this is serious and is affecting us in many ways. We all know to wash our hands frequently, avoid touching our faces, and avoid large crowds. If you are sick, we know to stay home. We’ve watched the market drop like a stone. Sport Leagues, whether the NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, or the NCAA have all suspended games/their seasons. My Nats opening day tickets will hopefully be good later in the season. And the usefulness of those James McMurtry concert tickets we have for next week? Gone, baby, gone.

And in daily life? I was chuckling on Thursday when I read in the paper about two large nearby suburban Costcos running out of toilet paper in response to the Corona Virus. I understand Purell and counter sanitizers, but toilet paper?

Fast forward to yesterday, Friday the 13th (maybe the date should have been the first clue). I went to Marshall to do a bit of shopping for this weekend and next week. I was, to say the least, caught of guard. As I went into Food Lion, I noticed:

Purell, hand sanitizer, Clorox wipes, Lysol, rubbing alcohol? All gone, as expected. What I didn’t expect to see was the shelves also empty of soap bars and soap dispensers. The produce area was half empty. Rice shelves were all empty, except for three bags of brown rice.

In the meat section, there were no chicken products left at all. I mean, not even a package of wings.

The paper aisle was empty of toilet paper and paper towels.

The refrigerated milk area was three fourths empty.

Don’t get me wrong, there were still lots of items in the store. There were also a lot of empty areas. The checkout lady told me people have been cleaning out the store for the last three days.

Marshall is not DC, nor the suburbs. People tend not to panic here like they sometimes do in the city, or the ‘burbs. We deal with winter storms, or ice storms OK. We don’t empty stores of milk and toilet paper anytime there’s a storm warning.

Having said all that, what was my reaction on seeing the Food Lion aisles yesterday? I know we’ll deal with this “crisis” as we have with other problems in the past, and we’ll get through it. I tell you what though. We like to think we Americans are “hearty stock” and tough, and will rise to any occasion. I suppose we ultimately do, but in the meantime, people better buckle up for the ride. It’s going to get interesting.

For now, I recommend people wash their hands vigorously and often, drink that good bottle of wine you’ve been saving, and if you have any spare cash, invest in companies that deal with health products, toilet paper, and chickens. You’ll do just fine.

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine….

_________

PS – Our Bombed Shelter (The wine room) will hold Cathy, me, Carmen and two others. PM me if interested. Bidding starts at four bottles of Purell.