The coronavirus pandemic has left everyone in a weird situation. The sudden outbreak of the virus has led several nations to declare large-scale lockdowns. And because of that, people are stuck in their homes. Even though it is important for their safety, it is also boring to sit at home for this long. The main problem in this situation is that most of the people do not know how they are supposed to kill their extra time at home. But there is a saying, ‘’Necessity is the mother of invention.’ This necessity has motivated people to invent new ways to spend their free time. However, not everyone has come up with great ideas. While some are trying out new things, others are just going mad in this quarantine. One such ‘mad person’ news came in recently. According to the news, a toilet paper hoarder asked the supermarket boss for a refund. To which, he was quite brutally answered in a NO.
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The Coronavirus Outbreak
In December 2019, the first case of coronavirus was found in Wuhan, China. After that, the virus started spreading in the city and then in other parts of the world. In no time, the cases of the virus were found everywhere in the world. Till now, More than 22 lac positive cases have been found around the globe. (https://laserdocmd.com/) While nearby 6 lac people have been cured out of these, more than 1.5 lac have lost their lives. The virus outbreak has left people in a state of panic because of the large number of people it has infected.
After Wuhan, Italy became the second epicenter of the virus as the number of cases increased rapidly there. The hospitals in Italy were not able to accommodate the huge number of patients in their limited hospital services. They first started to increase their hospitals’ capacity. But when the number of infected people did not stop increasing, they had to make a choice of which patient they wanted to treat and which they did not.
This is not just the case with Italy, many other nations are also suffering from the same issue. Currently, the US is the most affected nation with over 7 lac confirmed cases. And because of limited resources, they are not able to provide their citizens with proper facilities.
The Stocking Of Essentials
The lack of proper cure and facilities has spread panic among people. They just want to stay safe in their homes. This is why even before the lockdown was announced, they stocked up their daily essentials and made themselves ready for a long period of quarantine. The very first items that started disappearing from the supermarket shelves were canned food items, toilet paper rolls, and disinfectants. The pictures of people buying these items in large quantities went viral on the internet. Initially, this essential stocking was happening in just a few cities. But with the rapid spread of the virus, it started happening in all the nations and states.
The internet also had some pictures of the empty supermarket shelves. Some videos too went viral, which captured long lines outside the supermarkets and people fighting over the essentials. This showed how desperate people become in the time of emergencies.
The Toilet Paper Hoarder News
Recently a piece of news from South Australia went viral on the internet. The news mentioned how a toilet paper hoarder was shamed as he tried to return thousands of dollars’ worth toilet paper rolls back to the supermarket. The supermarket chain Drakes Supermarkets have been uploading YouTube videos lately, to let the people know how the pandemic looks from their eyes. As in, what situations they face in a day and how they deal with all of them.
In the last video of the channel, the supermarket director, John-Paul Drake, mentioned a mad toilet paper hoarder who visited them for a refund. The video started with the director showing empty shelves in his supermarket. With the images, he told people how everyone is stocking up so much unnecessary stuff, that they might not even use. The first example that he mentioned was that they have sold eight months worth toilet paper in just four weeks. He further added that they have also sold a year’s flour supply in just 9 days.
And this is not because many people have bought the items. Rather, this is because some people have bought these items in massive quantities. After that, Drake bought an interesting piece of news in the video. He said that he encountered a customer, who wanted to return 4800 toilet paper rolls and 150 units of 1-liter sanitizers back to them.
The Brutal Reply
Drake did not hesitate to reply to the customer in a tone that he deserved the most. Drake showed his middle finger to him and said no for any refunds. Drake further added in the video, that people like this toilet paper hoarder are the ones that are creating the problem in the whole world. To which, he is not wrong. The people who are buying massive quantities in their own panic are not leaving even a bit of product for those people who might actually need them. This is just further increasing the panic and not helping in any way.
Drake’s reaction to this toilet paper hoarder has been appreciated by many on the internet. And he is becoming even more popular because of that. Later in a LinkedIn post, Drake mentioned that these rolls were not bought in a single trip to the supermarket. This was a well-planned operation under which, almost 20 people were involved. These people collected the rolls from various ‘Drakes’ stores.
Conclusion
While it is necessary for the people to get the products that they are running short on, they should also take care not to buy unnecessary stuff. People like this toilet paper hoarder are making things worse for everyone as they are stocking on unnecessary items in large quantities. These people should be penalized for their actions so that other people will not repeat the same mistake.
