Local COVID-19 reactions (zaibatsu), 03/13/2020
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For whatever reason, a marker has been created with COVID-19 such that
this point  in time will  stand out  in my memory  for the rest  of my
life. That's  not to ascribe  any particular importance to  the events
(I  have  many  memories[1]  that  are  markers,  both  important  and
unimportant,) but  rather to  point out  that something  is happening.
Perhaps you  feel the  same way.  To read  the "news"[2],  everyone is
getting a marker collectively.

Locally, I've  observed two general  reactions over the  past several
weeks.  In  friends  that  self-identify as  liberal  or  libertarian
or  anarcho-capitalist,  there  has  been concern,  and  even  public
commentary  about   COVID-19;  in   friends  that   self-identify  as
conservative, there  has been silence.  Socially- that is to  say, in
public- I've  noticed that  people have  not modified  their behavior
until the past two days. Their  buying habits (I've been going to the
stores daily  just to  observe, which is  perhaps odd,  but whatever)
remained the same until recently, and  their demeanor as well (if you
like to people watch and have  lived in multiple places, you may have
noticed  that  people  in  a  region tend  to  have  social  patterns
collectively; I'm not an expert in it, but I have noticed it.)

Two days  ago, people started to  panic buy. Toilet paper  went first.
Macaroni  and cheese  went  second.  I noticed  the  beer case  looked
sparse, but I don't pay much  attention there generally, so that could
be confirmation bias. The dried beans  and rice were sparse too, and I
do purchase those regularly. This is just based on a few local stores.

Now, this  novel coronovirus has been  on the loose for  a few months.
The first reported death was on Jan  11, and it started to consume the
news cycle on notfox reports in the  week of Mar 2[3]. In other words,
unless you were living under a rock, you had ample time to prepare. If
you were very interested, you might have had a full 2.5 months. If you
were only marginally interested, maybe only a few weeks.

So, why  the collective panic  buying? Mass hysteria, I  suppose. News
stories about people raiding Costco, buying cartloads of toilet paper,
leads to other people raiding their  local stores for toilet paper, so
they can  get to it  before their insane  neighbors do. Maybe  we just
don't know our  neighbors well enough. Maybe we're too  swayed by what
other people might do.

Beyond that, I'm really more interested  in why whole groups seemed to
put more  stock in the  issue sooner. I  suspect that many  viewed the
whole thing  as a political issue,  at least for a  while, designed to
upset elections  or some such thing.  Who knows. I guess  I'll have to
talk to my friends  about it, and see what they  say. Maybe there will
be some research into the question by someone with more method.

Hopefully life for my fellow  gopher travelers is going along smoothly
through all of  this. Perhaps you're making memories  right now. Maybe
you're having  interesting conversations with your  kids, which you'll
look back on a few decades from  now and talk about together; if we're
lucky, you'll  laugh about  them together.  Maybe you're  getting more
time  with  family,  or  a  chance  to  view  your  life  from  a  new
perspective. Perhaps you're gaining  an appreciation for preparedness.
My bet  is that a marker  is being placed  or formed in your  mind, so
that you'll remember  life in this moment more clearly  than the blur,
more distinctly than the norm. Enjoy it for what it is, and good luck!


[1] To name a few of my markers: the moment the space
shuttle Challenger crashed; a mock primary in school where I voted for
Michael Dukakis;  the cement statues/bridge  in Expo 86; my  first and
only campout  with my dad; finishing  second to last in  a race; 9/11.
There are many, many more. For whatever reason, the memories stand out
brightly.

[2] I say "news" with the context of an essay that user
cmccabe sent, here: https://tinyurl.com/yh67l7tm

[3] http://notfox.com/keywords_weekly.html?wkst=2020-03-02