As countries went under lockdown the world over, people resorted to panic-buying and soon basic essentials were running in short supply.?
However, even though the governments made it pretty clear that essential services like medical and grocery will be available even during the lock down period, the message it seems wasn't clear enough and everyone chose to hoard up.
However, sometimes there's more to this than meets the eye and not everyone is being greedy and stocking up on essentials and depriving others of the same. The perfect example for this is the story of a woman who bought groceries worth $1,100 (Rs 82,900 approx) and was called out for it by other customers.
Apparently, Stephanie Rhymer Whitaker was called a "hoarding a** b*tch* by a woman who was next in line to her at Costco and Whitaker took to Facebook to clear out the misunderstanding and teach people a lesson.?
In her Facebook post, she explained how she spent $900 dollars at Costco and $200 dollars at another store.?
Her post's caption says, 'I didn't clear a single shelf.?I didn't take a thing from anyone.?What I did was shop from a list.?A list comprised of requests from 6 families that we know. Families with small children, families with special needs, families with single moms heading the household who work on medical, and my parents and grandparents.'
After making it clear that she did not buy the goods for herself, she went on to explain how further distributed the groceries to the other families.?
In her post, she wrote, 'I came home, walked in the rain to take basics to my neighbors and then spent 3 hours in my garage sorting and packing into usable food boxes that can be dropped off on their doorsteps because we would 100% rather take a chance with our health if it means that they don't have to.'
She also mentioned that the only things she bought for herself included 'margarita mix, trash bags, a bag potatoes, a salad mix, a bag of coffee and a case of beer.'
She ended her post by writing that, 'We are all better off assuming that people have the best intentions than that they are out to screw everyone over. We dont know anyones story, what theyve been through, what theyre going through, or where they're headed.?Look for the helpers, they are always there.?Be kind to one another.'
Let's not be so quick to judge others. While it is understandable that people are panicking and hoarding up essentials which is making it very hard for others to buy anything, one should always make the effort to understand the complete story before spewing hate.
You can see Stephanie's entire Facebook post here.
Facebook image:?Stephanie Rhymer Whitaker/Facebook