According to my children, I’m a bit of a hoarder. In fact both are not looking forward to the day they will have to clear out my home. My Depression-era parents taught my brother and I to save anything that could be used later, no matter how remote or obscure, as someday this may be all that’s available to make some fixture work or to get through some unknown event. This combined with two full careers, one including travel to many worldly destinations, has taught me being prepared has proved a good life practice. There is even a good story about how my ship ran out of toilet paper at sea.

Enter the pandemic. As business supply chains became less and less reliable and store on-hand stocks diminished or became non-reliable, stock inventories suffered and shelves became bare. Add social media to the mix, and customers are informed that same day that a store only has one item left.

There’s more to this in the current issue of the Times Virginian newspaper. Support local journalism by purchasing the issue at a local newsstand or subscribing at www.timesvirginian.com/subscriber_services to receive the print edition or view the full article in the e-edition version.