I use a simple cough syrup to prevent mucus plugs. It became difficult to buy years ago. The manufacturer preferred selling complex formulations that contained more chemicals.
For a couple years I resorted to Canadian sources. Then something changed, and they no longer were available. By them, Amazon offered it. Since I had had so many problems, even from them, I always bought several months worth at a time.
Saturday, I looked at my inventory and realized it would run out this summer. I decided to buy more now. Only, it no longer was available. Amazon essentially had been delisted it.
I started to consider ways to make it last longer. I suspect that I had gotten into the habit of just taking it whenever my nose drained, and not when there were potential problems. I also realized it was fairly viscous, and more may have stuck in my throat than reached the target.
The more I thought, the more I considered experimenting with diluting it a bit. That didn’t mean I took less, only that it was thinner and might move better. I wasn’t sure if it would be as effective.
This kind of thinking is what scares corporations the most.
My parents graduated from high school in the early 1930s. Their financial means were limited by the Depression, then shortages and rationing in the Word War II, and finally by the cost of a mortgage. They didn’t have disposable income until I was out of college.
I didn’t grow up poor, but I grew up aware that money wasn’t easily available. I envied friends who parents took them to the county fair and paid for all the rides. I had to chose one.
I had little money in graduate school, and my first jobs paid little. Credit cards were just beginning to be available. I always was living pay check to paycheck. In the years when one learns how to spend money, I didn’t have enough to splurge.
Children born after me didn’t know this. They always had enough, and learned as children how to use debt to their advantage.
As one small example, whenever I have a plumber ask for some paper towels I’m always surprised at how much they take. I always use a few sheets, then if that’s not enough, a few more. They tear off great swaths, because it’s cheap.
We are entering a period of scarcity. People will still be able to buy toilet paper, but they may feel they can’t. It may lead them to small ways of a making things go farther. If those habits become ingrained, it may mean they will buy less when the economy returns to normal.
Demand for staples like toilet paper is fairly constant. One only uses so much a day. If one buys a six-month supply, then one won’t be buying more for six months.
I presume corporations have this factored into their production plans. They accountants must know they made money earlier and will see less later.
In the period before I wrote this and the day I posted it, I found ways to eliminate some unnecessary uses of tissues and paper towels. If I continue, that means over a year I will only one-third the number I did before. When that number is multiplied by a large population it means, in order of appearance, less sales, less production, lower profits, and fewer jobs in the future.
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