Panic Shopping At Wal-mart Today

Discussion in 'Shopping & Sales' started by Hedi Mitchell, Jul 26, 2020.

  1. Hedi Mitchell

    Hedi Mitchell Supreme Member
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    Not sure why...but shelves empty all over store again. No tissue to speak of. Workers trying to stock but gone in no time.
     

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  2. Yvonne Smith

    Yvonne Smith Senior Staff
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    Are you close to where the hurricane is coming in , maybe it has to do with that ? We went to Sam’s today, and everything was totally normal here, not even a lot of shoppers.
     
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  3. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I'm not seeing shortages of much of anything here anymore. The last time I was in BJ's, they still have no toilet paper or paper towels so it seems that people are still hoarding cases of that stuff, but the grocery stores seem to have a normal supply now. Meat prices have gone up and when they have a sale on meat, it goes fast. But things are fairly normal. My son, in California, tells me that they have frequent meat shortages, however.
     
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  4. Hedi Mitchell

    Hedi Mitchell Supreme Member
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    Nope we are 350 miles from hurricane area.Walmart is always out of something.But the store was getting full by 8 -9 Am. Think the clear out was from previous night. Regardless there were more empty shelves than usual.
    Sigh. .people ..smh.
     
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  5. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I hate these self-generated shortages. Was it back in the 80s when a rumor caused toilet paper shortages?

    I have a select list of items I keep plenty of on hand because I have run into extended Walmart outages, but the "Reaction To The Virus That Roared" shortages have been remediated...except for canned soups. I suspect this is a supply issue and not residual hoarding.

    I wonder what's going on in your neck of the woods.
     
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  6. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @John Brunner

    Who can forget the gasoline "shortages" in about early 1973? I had had the misfortune of buying into a gas station dealership the previous June, mere months before the Arabs announced their oil embargo. Living in Las Vegas, beyond the glitz and glitter of the strip on the far west side, we experienced little inconvenience. News casts showed huge lines of cars back east and elsewhere awaiting purchase of gas; many stations limited purchases to only a few gallons, to prevent running out. We weathered that storm, I went on to attend UNLV full-time, finally obtaining my B.S. Engineering, after living through a quiet, amicable divorce.

    Frank
     
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  7. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    I do. Fortunately, I was working as an assistant manager of an apartment complex in Buena Park, California then, and didn't really have to drive anywhere.
     
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  8. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    I managed a 24 hour Hess gas station in Richmond VA during that crisis, Frank. It was the only job I've ever had where my life has been threatened, because of "Odd/Even" rationing. I was 19-20 years old.

    Before the crisis it was a great job. Hess held the annual Manager's Meeting at the Playboy Club in Great Gorge, NJ. Flew us up on charted aircraft then rode in limos from the airport to the club. I saw Godfrey Cambridge up close & personal. The cottontails were unimpressive (meaning it's not my thing.)

    During the crisis it was a nightmare. This was back when everyone paid cash. No credit cards. All my guys carried that wad of cash in their pockets. I had one guy who kept coming up over and short at the end of the shift. I knew he wasn't stealing. So I handed him a $10 bill and said "Let's pretend I got $5 worth of gas. Give me my change." He couldn't. He did not know how. He had the customers making their own change out of his wad of cash. Interestingly, he never got seriously ripped off. Hess was fanatical about cleanliness, and repainted the station twice a year. I told him he could paint the station (no one else wanted to do it), but when that was done he had to find another job. Real nice guy. Clarence. I still remember. I felt bad for him.

    I did not go to college until I was 23 years old. I self-studied electronics at the library to pass an entry-exam at a job I wanted, and got hired. I went to Community College at night, also after an amicable divorce (we would get together for dinner when she would be in town.) I took electronics (Intro to Tubes and Transistors) but not all of the classes were available at night, so I switched to Accounting. Got my 2 year degree, later got my purchasing certification (Certified Purchasing Manager) because of the path that job set me on, never did finish up my bachelor's, although I tried. None of my quarter credits would transfer to a semester-based system. I had to start over. I tried. I plain burnt out.

    My favorite thing ever was to interview people and vendors and ask "Tell me your story. How did you get here--today-- from where you started." Lots of twists, turns, ups, downs in a vibrant diverse economy. There were no straight lines, and more surprises than executed plans.

    Back on topic: I've worked retail (Dart Drug, G.C. Murphy) but never at Walmart.
     
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  9. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @John Brunner

    Your story closely parallels mine! Interesting! In my case, I attended Jr. College nights while working full-time still in Chicago, living with my wife in the house I was born in; bought it from my parents. I had gotten A.A.S. Degree in Electronics years earlier, right out of high school. Those credits (DeVry Technical Institute) were not acceptable as transfer credit to Univ. of Nevada. I had a great advisor, who had personally recommended the college institute an Engineering program. He had me petition the Board of Regents to accept DeVry credit. They allowed 48 sem-hrs, up to diff. calc. After 12 years away from the math, I had to take integral calc, diff-eq, and Linear Algebra. Struggled. Wrote our own divorce decree, judge accepted it, felt like shit, wanted to quit college. Old Herb Wells talked me out of it. Great guy. Masters in Mining Engineering, historian, avid skier. At 6'-4" he did body flips on skis one could not believe! He used 180cm skis, was amazed after securing them on top of his MG many times, they slipped into the trunk of my '65 Mercury when we drove up to Alta, Utah.

    Frank
     
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  10. John Brunner

    John Brunner Senior Staff
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    @Frank Sanoica

    We didn't buy the house I was born in, but we bought one right up the road from where I lived when we moved there in the early 60s (I was 9 years old) and right up the road from her mother. It was one of the only 2 houses in the area we could afford. I used to deliver newspapers to that house (when DC had The Evening Star as well as the Washington Post.)

    We split up less than 3 months after buying that house (married for under 2 years), but it ended up working out. I kept it because I loathe apartment life. I struggled to make payments with a $5/hour job, but the house ended up being a chunk of my retirement nest egg. It was a great location in the middle of a booming job market.

    I was well-established in that neighborhood. The neighbors threw a block party for my 50th birthday. One of the attendees was a woman I used to delivery newspapers to when I was a kid!

    I didn't go back to try to finish my bachelor's until I was 36 years old. I gave it a shot. Even though I didn't finish, I did enjoy taking college Humanities at that age. Business Ethics and Philosophy (and even my Botany science requirement) were quite fascinating as an adult. It was interesting to have been in Purchasing for over 10 years (steeped in agency law, directing high-dollar procurement, navigating the influence of corporate officers, all while maintaining my fiduciary duty to the shareholders) and discussing Business Ethics with a college professor. I also enjoyed sitting with true freshmen and sophomores discussing Socrates' and Aristotle's take on life.

    I will say that things work out as they are supposed to. I would have miserably failed in college had I gone right out of high school. I needed to grow up, and working the various jobs that I did (retail, drove a Coca Cola truck, managed the Hess station, worked for a Harvester International dealer, installed office security/access control systems) made me appreciative for what I eventually attained and for what I have had in life. That sense of appreciation really helped me survive a career spent in the Washington DC job market, where "dissatisfaction of the rich" is the norm.

    By the time I got into the accounting curriculum, I was in a finance and purchasing position (an opportunity given me with just a H.S. diploma.) All of my instructors had full-time business careers (accountants, lawyers, corporate controllers, an IRS section chief) and taught at night. Being in business, I had a great appreciation for what was available to me for only $22 ($7.50/credit hour) for an entire quarter. I should have been paying $100 an hour. And I took what I learned and applied it on the job literally the very next day. It had real-world value, so it stuck.

    Not all that long ago I was watching a college graduation ceremony. The woman (I forget who she was) who gave the commencement speech said something that made me nod my head and smile. It was the only thing I've ever heard at such an occasion that's made sense.
    Amen, sister.
     
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    Last edited: Jul 27, 2020
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