So yesterday I was at Costco and saw this sign behind the counter. Scarcity is coming, and in some cases is already here. A thread on being prepared for what’s coming 1/ 
I was at Target around 10am (2 hours after opening) and Toilet Paper *was* stocked that morning, then I watched or participated as the last set of rolls disappeared. (It wasn’t quite a Fun Run.) 2/
Cleaning supplies were very much getting wiped out. The only wipes left did not have alcohol, and even those disappeared minutes after taking this. 3/
Other Costco’s were similarly busy as reported by friends and family. Ask any cashier how they’re doing, out of sympathy. The answers everywhere are mostly the same. 4/
Certain parts of the country are starting to take this pandemic seriously, & this minor scarcity is currently at mild inconvenience levels. The store lines are annoying... but not untenable. The risk of not being prepared is that this will change *significantly* over time. 5/
Current recommendations I’m seeing are to be stocked up w/ food & supplies for 4-6 weeks in the event everything shuts down for a bit. Imagine Christmas every day: where everything is closed. It could happen. The places we rely on to be open & stocked are still run by humans 6/
And obviously humans are not immune to what’s happening. You can’t necessarily count on a Postmates driver, farm delivery or amazon prime box when that requires a person to be involved, and that person may get sick, quarantined, or otherwise told to not come to work that day. 7/
You can be part of “it’s not that big a deal & it won’t come to shutdown” camp, or “let’s just be prepared” camp. The numbers joining the latter camp are growing, & it’ll be much harder to get supplies when they’re already starting to get wiped out at the obvious places. 8/
You can still stock up using the off-beaten paths and even in the early morning at the usual places. (If you do, please just take what you need, reasonably.) If this all blows over, worst case you just got ahead on your groceries for a bit. 9/
This may change. As demand increases and supply dwindles, the others you’re racing against to the store will likely become less civil & the lines / parking would get worse as well in that scenario. Right now you can get things online even. Take advantage of it while you can 10/
I’m just a guy in tech, but this potentially affects us all. I only give my thoughts in case someone needs to hear it that wasn’t paying as close attention because “this is stuff that happens to other people / countries”. It’s arguable that *our* country is not prepared 11/
To summarize: recommendations are to: (1) stock up on food and supplies for 4-6 weeks while it’s easy, (2) cancel plans where you may be exposed to large numbers of people, (3) pay attention to news updates: schools are just beginning to close among other cancellations. 12/
Oh I can turn this into a tech post even: the “future” of work is already here via modern technology. Treat every situation as an escape room: “what can we do with what we have” and you’ll likely find a version of the tools you need, right here in the present. Good luck all 13/13
UPDATE: San Diego and LA public schools are now closed for at least a few weeks. Still just the beginning.
Update: local Target’s shelves today. I’d estimate about 30-40% picked clean, mostly the essentials (bread, pasta, water, canned food besides the obv toilet paper). This is still early days as more start to catch on. At this point I think realization is spreading
Update: if you need Toilet Paper, Clorox Wipes, or Water, this is the line you’re standing in at a Target ten minutes after opening on Saturday 3/14/2020
