Here’s an update on panic buying.

On November 19, I went to Sam’s Club at 42nd Street and Sheridan Road looking for Cottonelle or Charmin toilet paper. I get in an hour early because we have a business membership.

All the Cottonelle and Charmin was gone. A week earlier, I had purchased a big bundle of Cottonelle at that same store.

Sam’s did have the Member’s Mark brand toilet paper and their stock filled about 50 feet of shelf space. I don’t have anything against that brand but I was buying at the request of my in-laws who wanted Cottonelle or Charmin.

It was an amazing scene. Sam’s was packed with business members and almost everyone had a big bundle of toilet paper and also a large bundle of Member’s Mark paper towels. The store would only let you buy one of each.

I had to revisit that same store later that afternoon and they were sold out of toilet paper.

I found out that a local TV station had aired a story that a potential trucker’s strike was going to produce a new shortage of toilet paper and that triggered the buying frenzy.

But as soon as I left Sam’s Club, I went to Reasor’s Grocery at 71st Street and Sheridan Road and they still had Cottonelle. You were limited to two packages. They had three packages with 12 rolls each left and I bought two of them.

It is strange that there was no shortage of toilet paper being produced but they just couldn’t keep it stocked due to panic buying.

Ever since February, we have kept our supply of canned food, frozen food, toiletries, medicine and cleaning products stocked at our house. Usually , we buy what we use each week.

In 2019, I visited with my good friend Bill Bickerstaff, who is a wise investor in the Stock Market. I told him he should buy stock in companies that produce toilet paper because any time there is panic buying, people grab for toilet paper.

For several months, Sam’s Club, Reasor’s, Walmart and other grocers all seemed to be out of DelMonte green beans. That’s the only brand we eat and we had a hard time finding any. We finally did and we stocked up.

Now, Sam’s seems to have plenty, which is nice.

(One of the secrets of shopping at Sam’s Club is to never go in there while you are hungry. You’ll wind up buying 10 pounds of cheese or 48 ice cream bars).

For awhile, we had a hard time finding large rubber gloves. My in-laws have home care workers who need them and it was a trick to find the large size for several weeks. But now we found some at Sam’s Club.

Finding masks is no problem and neither is hand sanitizer. Companies ramped up production and there are plenty of masks at good prices. That’s good because officials keep increasing the mask mandates and you wouldn’t want to be cut short. (Although my wife made some very nice washable masks and we have purchased some reusable masks, too).

Panic buying used to be reserved for a weather event. When the TV weathermen forecast an ice storm or a large snowfall, people rush to the grocery store.

We normally keep a good stock of food in the refrigerator and pantry. We could always survive a couple of weeks with no problem.

But when a winter storm approaches, people who have very little in reserve rush to the grocery store to stock up.

When the big snow storm hit a few years ago, we had everything we needed but I decided to go to Reasor’s to add a few items.

I was shocked at what I saw.

The parking lot was full. Every grocery cart was in use. The produce department was missing about 60% of the normal fruits and vegetables. The shelves of canned food were half empty, especially the canned soup. The bread was gone and so was the milk.

Our family has been blessed. We don’t lack for food or shelter. As Christians, we believe we should share our bounty with those less fortunate, particularly in a pandemic.

We donated some frozen turkeys (Butterballs from Aldi) to John 3:15 Mission. Our church, First Baptist of Broken Arrow, has had several food drives this year, including one before Thanksgiving. We got a list of what was needed for a holiday dinner and donated that.

There was a time in my childhood when we didn’t have much. One Thanksgiving, some folks from Tulsa Bible Church (where we were members) brought our family a complete Thanksgiving dinner.

That giving spirit has stuck with me for almost 60 years.

My Dad said you should “leave the woodpile bigger than what you found.” In other words, if you have experienced God’s blessing, make a point of blessing someone else.

Jesus instructed us to share the Good News but He also told us to meet the needs of our neighbors. Christmas is a great time to put that in practice, even though some items may be in short supply.