By the end of January 2020, it was clear to me that whether pandemic or plandemic, the shit was going to hit the fan, figuratively and possibly literally, and so I began to prep. I joked in my previous post that I was possibly the first person in the Western world to have stocked up on toilet paper, and I'm standing by this assertion. Here's the story.
When everyone else- left, right, and center- was fiddling around and not paying attention to the hot potato that had landed on our laps, I had set up my information command center, which allowed me to gather data on the virus and the world's reaction. Many things were not clear back then, but as far as my crystal ball allowed me to see, I foresaw the possible social, political, and economic ramifications of what was about to unfold. I kept track of various streams of information. Some were more useful than others. I realized that speed was key. Not too fast, not too slow. The virus makes its own time. Like a tidal wave, it moves onward relentlessly. Every day, hour, and minute counts. Seconds even, for that's what it takes for the virus to flow from one organism to another.
On one of those streams of information, I came across a funny article in early February. It was about how some Asian countries were running out of toilet paper because people were making a run on it. Things got so bad that trucks full of toilet paper were being hijacked by armed robbers. It was anyone's guess why that was happening in Asia. But I asked myself a question, is it going to happen here in Canada? My thinking was as follows:
Effects of the virus. It was possible, I remember thinking at the time, that people in Asia were stocking up on paper because the viral infection made you use a lot of it. Maybe it induced vomiting, diarrhea, runny nose, etc. Therefore, a lot of toilet paper was needed.
People were just panicking. Let's face it, most people are likely not into prepping for potential zombie apocalypses. Therefore, during a time of crisis, they'll try to take actions that give them some measure of control over the situation. What kind of actions? The basics. Food, medicine, and toiletries. If everyone panicks, they're not going to sit down and calmly draw up a properly-formatted and methodical list of rations and provisions. It will be a mad dash across isles grabbing what they can. I'm exaggerating a bit, but probably not much. So could this also happen in my country? Surely, we're much too sophisticated to act like barbarians. Right?
So you see, it was clear to me that the doodoo was going to hit the fan, for one reason or other, and we were going to need toilet paper to clean up the mess. Rightly or wrongly, people were going to panic and rush to the store to buy toilet paper. So that day in early February, when I came across this piece of news, I did my groceries as usual and bought a bit of extra toilet paper. In the following weeks, I would do the same. Every time I bought groceries, I added a bit of extra paper. Little by little, over the course of the month, without panicking and destabilizing the supply, I built up my toilet paper fort. By the time the WHO declared a pandemic in early March, my ass was ready.
Just as I had foreseen, people in my city panicked. Story after story of customers buying up all the toilet paper at store began to surface in March. Others were upset at the madness and having to drive to other cities to get the damn toilet paper. What was happening? Fights and arguments broke out. Stores reassured customers they had plenty of toilet paper and even built walls of the stuff along the aisle. How much of this commotion actually contributed to the spread of the virus, we'll never know.
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Uncle Benjamin knew what he was talking about.
Here's a funny "alt-right" video from that early time when the virus was beginning to get politicized. Back then, almost everyone across all political and religious spectrums believed the virus and its ramifications were nothing to be concerned about, but a small number of misfits saw the writing on the wall.
