I just returned form Wal Mart. Just like every other store in the US, they are having an after Thanksgiving sale that began at 6:oo am. All day yesterday our tv told us of all the big sales that would be going on today, all the wonderful things we could buy at cheap prices, and the need to rush and get out early for the bargins. I call it Frenzy Manipulation. (Unfortunately, I got caught up in the frenzy, loosing my head to all the DEALS I would be missing if I stayed home)

I was able to get my purchases quickly and leave the store. It was a mad house. People were shoving, pushing and running over others. Ther reason? $5.00 Barbie dolls, Batman cars, cheap computers and CD players and much more. There were no smiles, just angry looks and biting words as people jostled and elbowed to grab their items.

As we left I realized how ugly things may very well get. If people display this type of behavior over things that are unnecessary, when their life's necessities are threatened, I think they will harm others or even kill.

My predictions is that we will see this type of craziness between Christmas and the New Year. If you are new to the forum and have not prepared, I urge you to do so even if it is just a little bit. The fact that you are here leads me to beleive you are seeking information. While seeking, prepare.

For those that don't beleive, go shopping today and see how the masses behave over needless things.

-- Linda A. (adahi@muhlon.com), November 26, 1999

Answers

On the second day after Hurricane Fran:

50 generators were delivered at Home Depot. A fistfight ensued as more than 50 people struggled for possession.

A gas station ran out of gas. A would-be customer attacked the gas station attendant.

I got the last bag of ice from a delivery at Kroger. The woman in line behind me, obviously upper middle class, almost attacked me and was only restrained from doing so by her husband.

These are incidents to which I can personally attest. No doubt there were others.

Whether or not you believe Y2K will cause supply problems, there will be people who, at the last minute, will frenziedly attempt to stock up. Linda is right. Be prepared to stay out of stores for about the last two weeks in December and possibly the first week of the New Year. Better safe than sorry.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), November 26, 1999.

WalMart here was quiet last night. Fully stocked, peaceful. I filled my cart with bargain priced food to feed my boys...

They just won't stop eating.........

-- Art Welling (artw@lancnews.infi.net), November 26, 1999.

Yup. Stay out of the stores after 12/15. That's the way I see it. We blew off over $800 buckskis last weekend on food, just to avoid that nightmare. I don't want to take a bullet just because I needed a gallon of milk.

35 days. 20 until "cutoff day". Less than 3 weeks. Got your preps done yet?

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), November 26, 1999.

Haiti in '96: Handing out food to the locals got to be entertaining to say the least. We'd pull up in a duece and a half or five ton, dismount, and -try- to keep the locals from mobbing the back of the truck. Even when we'd hit 'em with our rifle butts they'd keep pushing. The worst was the people who were fighting, screaming and grabbing the fastest and loudest were the young men, ages between 12- 20, (The ones who could actually feed themselves if they ever really wanted to) They would even have the audacity of grabbing up small children and holding them in front of us so's we wouldn't buttstroke them into the ground. Human sheilds, you know. The women and children who actually were lucky enough to get food would have the chow grabbed away from them by these young jackals.

Eventually we learned that we needed to do was did what we called a "Drive-by Feeding" This consited of slowing the truck to 5-10 miles per hour, lay on the horn, and dump 1/2 a pallet of chow on the ground, then pull up ahead, and stop to feed the women and children. Sometimes a couple of the young ones would saunter over towards us, and we'd draw down on them. Reminded me of feeding time in the tiger pit at the zoo man...Thankfully, this only lasted a few weeks...but it serves to me as a stark reminder of just how quickly 'civilized man' can become 'animal man'...

-- Billy-Boy (Rakkasan@yahoo.com), November 26, 1999.

Wow, Linda. You're far braver than I am!

Actually a wonderful store, Real Goods opened up, just last week, near me with all kinds of marvelous solar goodies. Bought a twig burning portable camp stove, a solar charger for AA rechargable batteries, and a few other camping type items. Pure heaven! (Opened right next to the local Whole Foods Market).

If you shop, support the small merchants and avoid the malls.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 26, 1999.

They're in for a big shock as the food price tags change. Dec 1 is when the USA is ending all shipments to the British Virgin Islands because of severe shortages. Let that really sink in. It's been said this is going to put BVI into real and true hunger and suffering. The USA wouldn't be doing that if it wasn't deadly here.

I'm seeing some of those price changes where I am.

Those people are not going to "panic shop" nor be The Day Before The Storm People. It's too late. They are going to arrive at the store, not knowing the night crew was given orders to change all the pricing, there will not be any warning, and they will face prices like a plastic bottle of dried onion that sold for under 3 dollars now selling at ten.

I'm seeing why the military is out there poised and ready. And I was right in my original postings when I first came to the greenspun boards that the Feds knew of a date or an event to have those soldiers in place, and knew of facts that would stop "mass panic shopping." It's hyperinflation on the food.

"You" don't literally starve a whole population sitting out in the sea, BVI, and Wonder bread is sitting on the shelves as if life were a bed of roses at an affordable price.

-- Paula (chowbabe@pacbell.net), November 26, 1999.

"...there were no smiles..." What? In this, our consumer utopia, the apotheosis of civilization? No smiles? Our local paper yesterday (T-day) had this top headline: "shoppers await 'complete joy' tomorrow," complete with quotes by the NY Retail Board about how much real shoppers look forward to the day after Thanksgiving. This is consumer heaven! There's a happiness explosion! People are probably just...too busy to smile. Or maybe, just maybe, the "complete joy" turned out to be a bit less than what the propagandists had indicated.

-- Spidey (free@last.Amen), November 26, 1999.

Thanks for the graphic and timely reminder, Billy. I'm sorry if I'm being a cultural snob here, but the impression I get (from e.g. Bill Bryon's books) is that world events like this rarely feature on mainstream TV in the USA, as they don't make pretty viewing. In the UK, we see them more often - although even the BBC is beginning to rose tint it's view of the world now. It's easy to forget how important a full stomach is to an orderly society. :(

-- Colin MacDonald (roborogerborg@yahoo.com), November 26, 1999.

Colin: YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!!! We live in Texas, and about a year ago, got digital cable. We wanted it b/c there are stations on digital you can't get w/regular cable and we wanted those stations. BBC America was my BIGGIE (though I was quite disappointed to find BBC America seems to like to broadcast an overload of British dramas and mysteries....I was hoping for more of the lovely comedies!) Anywho, we get the BBC news broadcast about 3 x a day. Boy were we SHOCKED at the stuff we don't even hear about here in the states. I mean, BBC broadcasts stories happening in countries we NEVER hear about. Just another little observation: the newscasters aren't always such "pretty faces" as they are here. One particular gal, w/a severely short haircut, would never be on the national evening news here. It was refreshing to see more "normal" looking people on TV. Ours all look like they were carved out of cream cheese.

On the shopping: I wouldn't go anywhere NEAR a mall or major outlet store such as Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Target, Toys R Us, etc right now. Nope. I ordered Christmas presents for all 8 family members from two catalogues and amazon.com. There's even toysrus.com for my daughter.

I get extremely claustrophic in those crowds and I have never seen any shopping "joy"! What a joke!!!!

-- preparing (preparing@home.com), November 26, 1999.

I haven't even entered any kind of store since December of '96. I haven't even left the house in April of '98. There are just too many DGIs, pollys, DWGIs and trolls out there to risk it.

-- Butt Nugget (catsbutt@umailme.com), November 26, 1999.

I hate to shop, especially during the Christmas season. But out of morbid curiosity I went to town to pick up a few things at Wal-Mart (Yankton, SD). The parking lot was full, the store was jam-packed with people. The employees looked a bit frazzled, but were still smiling. There was no pushing or shoving--customers were polite to one another and quick to apologize if their cart was blocking the aisle. It never ceases to amaze me how courteous and friendly the people are around here compared to other places I have lived.

-- Sam Mcgee (weissacre@gwtc.net), November 26, 1999.

---I managed a small cart full at wally world today. Tons of people, but all polite it seems. Yes, I DID take advantage of some sale items. got to, no full price ever if i want even close to adequate supplies. I picked this county to live in after a lot of searching, plenty of diversified farming, a lot of water, low crime rate except fot the few blocks of downtown and the public and cheap housing areas, and everyone was FRIENDLY. it was nice, really nice.

zoggus

-- zog (zzoggy@yahoo.com), November 26, 1999.

Has there been a confirmation of the British Virgin Islands report?

-- Linda Hitchings (lindasue1@earthlink.net), November 27, 1999.

Linda Hitchings,

In another thread from this past week the subject was about the cutoff to the British Virgin Islands. In the thread there was posted a link and the news article source that gave confirmation as well as other info.

I hope your not there-it is not a pleasant "read".

I can't identify the thread, but I'm sure it has been somewhere between 3 and 7 days prior. Limit your search to those dates and try the Miscelaneous catagory?

-- maid upname (noid@ihope.com), November 27, 1999.