I always laugh at the reaction from the general public to people who as children read the fable of “The Ant And The Grasshopper” and took its lesson to heart.
Most visitors to this back porch, I suspect, keep a reasonable quantity of supplies (food, water, ammo, whatever) handy, especially after the Great Chinkvirus Lockdown and its concomitant emptying of the store shelves by Stupid People who don’t.
What’s worse is that these ignorant assholes persist in excoriating people like us with labels of “selfish”, “hoarders” and worse, even after our recent experience. Here’s one example (I know, it’s formerly-Great Britain, but I know there are people just like that Over Here too):
A MUM-of-two has been slammed as ‘selfish’ after revealing she’s stockpiled enough food to last her and her family until January.
Emma Tarry, 26, appeared on This Morning surrounded by her mountains of groceries, as she revealed her fridge, freezer and cupboards were full of food.
Emma, a mum-of-two from Lancaster, was branded ‘selfish and stupid’ by viewers, as Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield grilled her over her shopping.
The mum revealed she’s hoarded around 400 tins and 700 nappies, and stocked up on essentials like flour to make bread.
She defended her decision, saying: “I think it’s best we go to shops and supermarkets as little as possible. I think stockpiling done properly and don’t go too excessive is ok… if you prepare months in advance or buy it off Amazon.”
Nothing this woman said strikes me as particularly incorrect or, gawd forbid, offensive. And the quantity of food she’s stored for a family of (at least) three people doesn’t seem that excessive. (Break it down: 400 tins for six months for three people is just over one tin per day, per person. She probably needs another 200, just to be on the safe side.)
Emma said one of her children has special needs, and she wants the peace of mind knowing she has access to food and medicine. She said: “If my child needs Calpol… that way at least I’m organised — I just want to make sure myself and my kid is organised.”
And she also pointed out she’s been able to help out family and friends with her food stash, and hasn’t kept it all for herself.
Predictably, the Stupid & Envious Set chimed in:
But viewers were outraged by Emma’s overflowing kitchen, claiming stockpilers like her are the reason behind national shortages.
Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: “This makes me so angry, many people can’t afford that much shopping let alone hoard it. I hope this woman has given some to the food bank. We all need to get on with life, hiding away in doors & hoarding is not the answer.”
So because not everyone can afford to do it means that nobody should do it. Socialism in a nutshell: make everybody equally miserable.
Another tweeted: “That stupid… stockpiling food is all that’s wrong with this greedy selfish world we live in…”
A third wrote: “Not sure why #ThisMorning have got this girl on today. Worried food is going to be rationed, only putting more fear into others and potentially making the panic buying issue worse! People should have learnt from the last lockdown and stop being so selfish.”
While this person said: “Absolutely ridiculous. She just can’t see that she’s part of the problem. Her actions end up having a knock on effect. How many others are behaving the same as her though? This is why our local shops have no loo roll again now!”
Yeah; looking after yourself and your infant children is “selfish”. Someone needs a good ball-kicking, and it ain’t our Emma.
What made me decide to talk about this women, though, is the extra step she’s taken:
Emma previously revealed she’d bought a BB gun to protect her stash, in case anyone tried to steal her mountains of food. She said: “I researched how to legally buy a BB gun or air rifle and bought one from a local gun shop. I’ve previously had shooting lessons on a local gun range, it’s legal and stored correctly and it gives me peace of mind.
“Three weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night and heard someone trying to break into my garden shed. “I stayed upstairs and pointed the BB gun out the window and told the man to ‘eat the dirt’.”
Of course, to the rest of us, what she did is not only laudable, but just plain common sense. (The fact that she’s limited to a damn BB gun instead of a proper 12-gauge… see “formerly-Great Britain”, above.) And this post is useless with at least one pic:
Clearly, her shooting lessons didn’t include a section on trigger discipline, but under the circumstances, I think we can excuse her.
Well done, Emma. Ignore those assholes (arseholes) who are carping at your excellent state of preparedness. And if any of them come sniffing around your house in times of great shortage… all I can say is: have a goodly supply of BBs, and practice fast reloading.
Not one person at this website thinks you’re selfish, or any of that jive. You’re prudent and taking care of yourself, not relying on “the government” to do so. Only in a socialist country could this be a cause for anger.
