prepgirl44
Veteran Member
I had some interesting experiences today as I ventured out to do some last minute prepping. I thought them worth sharing.
I should preface this with explaining that I have been ill for the last 8 months and pretty much homebound. I have started driving again only recently and then only locally so I have been pretty much out of touch with what is going on out there. I watch the news, I read the boards, I visit with friends on the phone, but other than going to the local grocery store and the doctor, I have been pretty much out of commission.
I live in a small rural town and my grocery store (Winco) is about 45 minutes away down the mountain in the next (larger) town so basically, since I have been unable to get there I haven't been buying much in the way of groceries. I have just been getting the necessary fresh stuff like milk and eggs and vegies at the local (expensive) store and using my food storage.
So okay....fast forward to today....I am stronger now and eating more, and feeling the urgent need to restock the food storage what with everything that is going on these days. So......I gathered my courage and strength and went down the mountain by myself to shop today for the first time in months and months. (Yay! Big step!).
Well....what a shocker! The prices had tripled on many things and the packaging has become more "compact" (as in 12 oz instead of 16, that kind of thing). I found the entire store had been re-arranged (making it a pain to find anything) which was kind of a bummer for someone without a lot of extra energy to expend. But the real shocker was when I got to the back of the store and I saw why everything had been re arranged!
The entire back of the store is now rows and rows of bulk foods in huge bins where you scoop out what you want. And the back wall is now stacked with rows of large bags of staples (like 50 pound bags of wheat, sugar, rice, flour, beans) just bags and bags and bags if it, as well shelving containing 5 gallon (empty) buckets and gamma seal lids and 5 gallon plastic water jugs and various other prep items! Mind you, this is not a warehouse or big box store, this is a regular chain grocery store.
I about fell over!
As if that wasn't enough to blow my mind, I passed a hardware store on the way home that had 55 gallon drums sitting out front with a big sign on them that said "Got water?" I did a double take....LOL. During y2k you had to discreetly visit the LDS bookstore to pre-order used barrels and were limited on the number you could get and then had to be there behind the store to pick them up when the truck arrived....now here they are, brand new, right out on the road with a big sign on them in front of the town's hardware store! Geesh!
So from everything I saw today, it looks like nothing is hush hush about prepping anymore. It kind of looks to me like "everybody" is doing it....and able to do it right from the grocery store and the hardware store...no more of that begging for used frosting and pickle buckets and ordering gamma seal lids off the net. Go figure.
Man, have I been out of the loop! This was quite an eye opener for me. Goes to show how things can change when you are out of the game! I have been keeping up with the boards while ill, but I don't think I've seen any posts that indicated that prepping has gone mainstream....but maybe I missed it.
So, I'm curious: is anything like this happening in your respective areas? Has prepping gone mainstream in your AO???
I should preface this with explaining that I have been ill for the last 8 months and pretty much homebound. I have started driving again only recently and then only locally so I have been pretty much out of touch with what is going on out there. I watch the news, I read the boards, I visit with friends on the phone, but other than going to the local grocery store and the doctor, I have been pretty much out of commission.
I live in a small rural town and my grocery store (Winco) is about 45 minutes away down the mountain in the next (larger) town so basically, since I have been unable to get there I haven't been buying much in the way of groceries. I have just been getting the necessary fresh stuff like milk and eggs and vegies at the local (expensive) store and using my food storage.
So okay....fast forward to today....I am stronger now and eating more, and feeling the urgent need to restock the food storage what with everything that is going on these days. So......I gathered my courage and strength and went down the mountain by myself to shop today for the first time in months and months. (Yay! Big step!).
Well....what a shocker! The prices had tripled on many things and the packaging has become more "compact" (as in 12 oz instead of 16, that kind of thing). I found the entire store had been re-arranged (making it a pain to find anything) which was kind of a bummer for someone without a lot of extra energy to expend. But the real shocker was when I got to the back of the store and I saw why everything had been re arranged!
The entire back of the store is now rows and rows of bulk foods in huge bins where you scoop out what you want. And the back wall is now stacked with rows of large bags of staples (like 50 pound bags of wheat, sugar, rice, flour, beans) just bags and bags and bags if it, as well shelving containing 5 gallon (empty) buckets and gamma seal lids and 5 gallon plastic water jugs and various other prep items! Mind you, this is not a warehouse or big box store, this is a regular chain grocery store.
I about fell over!
As if that wasn't enough to blow my mind, I passed a hardware store on the way home that had 55 gallon drums sitting out front with a big sign on them that said "Got water?" I did a double take....LOL. During y2k you had to discreetly visit the LDS bookstore to pre-order used barrels and were limited on the number you could get and then had to be there behind the store to pick them up when the truck arrived....now here they are, brand new, right out on the road with a big sign on them in front of the town's hardware store! Geesh!
So from everything I saw today, it looks like nothing is hush hush about prepping anymore. It kind of looks to me like "everybody" is doing it....and able to do it right from the grocery store and the hardware store...no more of that begging for used frosting and pickle buckets and ordering gamma seal lids off the net. Go figure.
Man, have I been out of the loop! This was quite an eye opener for me. Goes to show how things can change when you are out of the game! I have been keeping up with the boards while ill, but I don't think I've seen any posts that indicated that prepping has gone mainstream....but maybe I missed it.
So, I'm curious: is anything like this happening in your respective areas? Has prepping gone mainstream in your AO???