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Comment by syshum | Hacker News Reader

The shortages came too quickly to claim it was just WFH unless people generally only buy enough to get by for a week at a time..

I generally restock on paper goods like that ever 3-6 months, not weekly...

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If everyone buys for a month at a time, it would be spread out over that month. With lockdowns, people bought more than usual, and everyone was trying to buy it at the same time rather than spread out. And then people heard about shortages and it just reinforced it - people who still had a month worth at home would throw another package in the care "just in case".

As I recall, even though I normally keep pretty well stocked with paper goods and other staples, I did a shopping trip right before everything went a bit crazy and definitely picked up some additional reserves just in case. It certainly wasn't prepping levels but enough to throw off stocking levels if everyone did what I did during the first month or three. I still have a 10 pound bag of flour which I would normally never buy but it's what was there of my preferred brand at one point when shelves were a bit scant.

Getting a bidet attachment for my toilet was a game-changer for me. Now I feel deprived when I go on a vacation and have to deal with regular toilets again.

One benefit is that I use a fraction of the amount of toilet paper.

A lot of people (especially in apartments), do buy a week at a time - not the weirdest or craziest thing I guess, but definitely not something I would be comfortable doing!

I shouldn't have said the driver. The initial panic-buys were definitely what kicked it off. The need for retooling is what sustained the shortage for months despite rationing by grocery stores.

Even if people bought for just the next week, they had to buy more, because now they were using their toilet at home, exclusively. Everyone buying more at once caused a real shortage.

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