Friendship vs Greed

[beech1948]

I've had a bit of a shock this morning. A very good friend whom I have known for over 28 years asked me to visit him and help in his workshop doing some heavy lifting.

He asked me in for a coffee after and showed me his "stockpile" room. A 14ftx11ft bedroom converted with wood shelving and crammed to the ceiling and all over the floor with canned food stuff and toilet rolls, and disinfectant etc etc etc.

I was shocked and almost breathless at his obvious pride in his achievement.

I was revolted by this display of selfishness and greed. He had at least 6 months worth of stuff if not 9 months. He had been shopping 3-5 times a day for the past 6 weeks.

I walked away knowing that my wife and I had not stockpiled anything, we seemed to be getting along OK with occasional shortages. I felt somewhat angry at this friend and my wife and I talked about just dropping the moron.

Wondering what you would choose to do.

 

[Trevanion]

Where does your friend live? We could do some "wealth distribution" :wink:

On a side note, a couple of local pubs that have shut down over the weekend have been robbed while no one was about. People will take advantage of anything.

 

[MikeG.]

Did you confront your friend?

Us English hate causing a fuss with friends and family, and tend to avoid confrontation and argument. I don't hold by the same strictures, and a number of my friends are the same. If that had been a friend of mine I would have said how sad and disappointed I was to see such selfishness from someone I thought to be above that sort of thing. Friendship can survive a bit of honesty, generally, and if it can't, then it wasn't worth the candle in the first place.

 

[That would work]

Let's hope he is not an obsessive regarding dates and a lot of it does not get chucked away. I suspect there will be a disgusting amount of good food thrown away in the coming weeks or months.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

He might escape the coronavirus, but a little botulism from a blown can wouldn't go amiss.

 

[Marineboy]

Let's hope he is not an obsessive regarding dates and a lot of it does not get chucked away. I suspect there will be a disgusting amount of good food thrown away in the coming weeks or months.

Refuse collectors are saying that it’s already happening. Wasted food in bins, much of it unopened, is at post-Christmas levels.

 

[That would work]

Some people are just plain turnip wits.
Replace the vegetable with any expletive of your choice.

 

[loftyhermes]

What really drove it home for me about selfish buying was last Friday I went shopping to Tesco to buy dairy and soya free food for grandson (who's dairy, soya intolerant) was that because everything else had been bought they went on to take all the free from food as well. Normally the free from shelves are always full so now we're struggling to find something for the poor lad to eat. Tesco who have the best free from selection locally had a 3 item limit but the shelves were still empty, how does that work?

 

[Stanleymonkey]

Call him or send him a message / email. Just say that you are uncomfortable with what he has done.

No facts or evidence that he will need that much based on any other countries so far.

He might have been doom-mongering with similar types on other forums and without a sane voice to bring you back down to ground you can easily get carried away.

Maybe suggest some of the near to use by date stuff could go to food banks where it would be snapped up and used within days and not wasted?

Good luck - I don't envy you.

 

[Geoff_S]

As friends get older some of them get weirder :roll:

 

[marcros]

It is like "debating" on here. Whatever you say won't change his mind. Whatever he says (if anything) to justify it won't change your mind. I wouldn't bother, just reflect your thoughts the next time he asks for help.

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I am ambivalent about this, to say the least. I see it as my job to provide water, food and shelter to the family - it's the absolute basics. It doesn't help that I have already lived through one financial crisis, so this next one should be a doddle, even though it looks like it will be very different.

Today I have learned that if I want to leave my house I must apply for permission, and there are only a few reasons why that permission will be granted. Does that concentrate the thinking at all? It doesn't matter how well-stacked the supermarket is if you aren't allowed to go there.

If you go hungry because you took a moral stance, does that make you less hungry? If I were seeing shortages, I would want to stock up. What is interesting is that Greece doesn't seem to have any panic buying, at least in my area. I don't know if this is because Greeks are incapable of thinking about tomorrow, or because they all, as a matter of course, have huge stocks of food at all times. They actually do - it's a perfectly normal thing to buy 10kg of meat, just to have it in the freezer.

Whilst we are on the subject of shortages, the lack of plastic Chinese tat is just about to feed through - get it while you can, I think. Or would that be morally reprehensible?

The final question to ask is do you believe that hoarders should have their stocks appropriated for the good of all?

 

[Blackswanwood]

Unfortunately TN here in the UK the only reason there are perceived shortages is the hoarding that a small but still significant portion of the population are engaging in.

 

[Bm101]

 

[Trainee neophyte]

Unfortunately TN here in the UK the only reason there are perceived shortages is the hoarding that a small but still significant portion of the population are engaging in.

I quite understand that, but there is still a shortage. I read something today, entirely unsubstantiated, that suggests that supermarkets have 3 days supplies on hand, and no more. Their shelves are their storage, for the most part - they need warehousing sufficient to get stock off the lorry, and checked into the system, for it then to be wheeled out on to the shop floor.

The central warehousing for the each store also has 3 days warehousing space - the same just in time system which depends upon suppliers delivering regularly to the depot. Upset this delicate dance, and it doesn't just take 3 days, or even 6 days to get back on track - it can be up to a month, because there is no slack in the system which can used to ramp up supply.

To be blunt, it doesn't matter why there are shortages - it matters that there are shortages. At this point it is probably too late because everything has run short already, but better to be frowned upon for hoarding than wandering in the garden looking for dock leaves.

 

[Blackswanwood]

As you say TN … unsubstantiated.

 

[Inspector]

Since "Social Distancing" means staying at home and away from people I wouldn't have helped and never known what he was doing in the first place. His going around to gather supplies has put him in contact with more potential infected people, possibly catching it and spreading it more to boot. Maybe even you.

Pete

 

[Trainee neophyte]

As you say TN … unsubstantiated.

Do you have the logistics data for UK supermarkets? Not a snide dig - I certainly don't. I once worked for a white goods outlet during my career-change, so I know the basics of how deliveries, orders and restocking works in the real world (not as well as you might think, in other words).

 

[selectortone]

I read something today, entirely unsubstantiated, that suggests that supermarkets have 3 days supplies on hand, and no more.

Lost for words at that. Possibly the most irresponsible post I've ever read on this forum.

Some of us, including me, have vulnerable relatives who are self-isolating and are very frightened by the situation. You should take some responsibility and refrain from spreading "entirely unsubstantiated" (your words) rumours.

 

[AES]

Yup, I second the above comment "T n". Along with your earlier IMO very silly comments in this thread along the lines of "I can panic better than you can".

Yes, of course we all have a ("duty"?) to look after our family, but as my old man used to say "There's a difference between scratching yer (A-R-S- bottom) and tearing lumps out of it."