# Went to Costco This Morning. Was a Little Bit Scary. **URL:** \ **Category:** The Quarantine Zone\ **Tags:** covid-quarantine\ **Created:** [March 11, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294 "2020-03-11T18:58:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/261 "2020-04-02T18:42:11Z")
someone wrote on a blog that a local guy was in a grocery store yelling at people who had gloves or a mask on. He said the gloves/masks should be for medical people only. Sounds like he needs to see a shrink. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/262 "2020-04-02T20:01:36Z")
For you people who can’t find banking supplies such as flour and yeast have you looked online? For example: > **[Bulk Bakery Ingredients - Wholesale Distributors](https://www.bakersauthority.com/)** > > Fully stocked. Bakers Authority has you covered! From bulk ingredients, baking tools, packaging, and everything in-between. Buy wholesale or for home use. [although they mostly sell larger quantities and with no free shipping UPS charges can be high] ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/263 "2020-04-02T20:14:34Z")
Speaking of Costco, they are now limiting entrance to two people per membership card. Not that anyone should be going shopping with extra people anyway, that is what lists are for, to remember what it was you went to get. //i\ ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/264 "2020-04-02T20:33:48Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > Got up early yesterday to get a pickup time scheduled for WalMart. Managed to snag a pickup today at 2. > > An hour ago they e-mailed me to say they were cancelling my time. Well dammit, and when they cancelled my pickup they ALSO cleared my cart.:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/265 "2020-04-02T20:40:37Z")
> [@icon](#): > > Speaking of Costco, they are now limiting entrance to two people per membership card. Not that anyone should be going shopping with extra people anyway, that is what lists are for, to remember what it was you went to get. > > //i\ All well and good unless you have nobody to watch your kids. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/266 "2020-04-02T21:52:12Z")
> [@icon](#): > > Speaking of Costco, they are now limiting entrance to two people per membership card. Not that anyone should be going shopping with extra people anyway, that is what lists are for, to remember what it was you went to get. > > //i\ We went yesterday morning. They were also limiting how many people were allowed in at a time, and had a list of what they were out of outside the entrance. Long line and it moved fast. Upside was no six person family hordes blocking the aisle, and the fastest checkout I’ve ever seen there. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/267 "2020-04-02T22:20:06Z")
According to Wisconsin Representative [Joel Kitchens,](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2019/legislators/assembly/1795) we don’t have a shortage of some food items, but a surplus. So much so that > [@](#): > > The Dairy Farmers of America has asked more than one hundred of Wisconsin’s largest dairy farms to dump their milk until at least April 6. That’s because the market is being flooded right now due to large consumers of dairy products — such as schools and restaurants — being shut down. > > Unfortunately, the Dairy Farmers of America says the milk being discarded can’t be donated to food banks because it still needs to be processed and those plants are already at capacity. [Why farmers are being told to dump milk, even with some store shelves empty](https://www.channel3000.com/why-farmers-are-being-told-to-dump-milk-even-with-some-store-shelves-empty/) ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/268 "2020-04-02T22:40:08Z")
Yay! My store got sneeze shields today! On the downside, between the plastic barrier and more people wearing masks it can be hard to understand customers, but more protection for us workers - yay! ---
**Author:** ![C3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/c3/32/3108_2.png) [@C3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C3)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2020, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/269 "2020-04-02T23:31:29Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > According to Wisconsin Representative [Joel Kitchens,](https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2019/legislators/assembly/1795) we don’t have a shortage of some food items, but a surplus. So much so that[Why farmers are being told to dump milk, even with some store shelves empty](https://www.channel3000.com/why-farmers-are-being-told-to-dump-milk-even-with-some-store-shelves-empty/) I don’t understand this. If they’re dumping milk because it’s not being distributed to schools, etc., why are the plants at capacity? How do the plants function normally, when all of that milk has to be distributed to the schools, etc.? ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/270 "2020-04-03T03:55:10Z")
I would suppose that there is no place to store all the fluid milk that has already been processed. I appreciate this thread a lot. It helps me imagine what is going on back home. ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/271 "2020-04-03T04:21:20Z")
> [@C3](#): > > I don’t understand this. If they’re dumping milk because it’s not being distributed to schools, etc., why are the plants at capacity? How do the plants function normally, when all of that milk has to be distributed to the schools, etc.? Just a guess, but consumers like to purchase milk in quart and gallon containers for home use. For institutional use, it is generally distributed in little single-serving cartons or bulk containers not labeled for consumer use. How easy is it to convert an assembly line used to fill the tiny single-serve cardboard cartons into one that fills gallon plastic bottles? The grocery store nearest me has always carried three different brands of ordinary cow’s milk (plus the usual assortment of organic, gluten-free, flavored, and non-cow stuff). I notice now that there is usually only one brand and it’s a different brand every time I visit. And it’s often not one of the usual brands. So I think there has been some sort of upheaval in the milk supply chain and everyone is scrambling to get milk wherever they can find it. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/272 "2020-04-03T04:31:15Z")
Costco is one of the safest places to go shop in person now here in the original epicenter of Kirkland Washington. Costco’s “Kirkland” brand is named after the seattle suburb, and is home to Costco store #3. Since Seattle went into non-essential mode and had horders much earlier than any where else, I think we are also much earlier to have filled up pantries and garages. From what I read, there is plenty of different stock in the supply chain, so the rest of the country with shortages should start catching up as folks stop whording. The entrance is funneled into two walkways, carts have been sanitized, there are few customers , sign outside listing the few items out of stock, giant stack of Kirkland TP (but missing the better stuff), everyone is pretty careful about social distancing, a fair amount of face masks on shoppers. AND the staff seem to be their normal bubbly selves, which is really nice to experience given the human interaction dearth going on these days. Supermarkets are much smaller, narrower aisles, and shoppers are more dense… ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/273 "2020-04-03T04:44:11Z")
Finally, at Costco there was toilet paper yesterday. And found Lawry’s garlic salt with parsley! ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/274 "2020-04-03T05:04:00Z")
> [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](#): > > I would suppose that there is no place to store all the fluid milk that has already been processed. You can’t store fluid milk for more than a few days as it quickly spoils. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/275 "2020-04-03T07:19:53Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > You can’t store fluid milk for more than a few days as it quickly spoils. You mean once opened, right? There’s such a thing as [UHT milk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-temperature_processing). The shelf life for the unopened and unrefrigerated ones in my kitchen is a year and a day. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/276 "2020-04-03T14:26:00Z")
UK Country Town. I went shopping last Friday and this morning at our local Tesco. They have instigated a pensioners happy hour at 9:00 on Monday Wednesday and Friday. Last week they had started with limiting the numbers in the store and there was a shortish queue outside at 8:45 when I got there, all spaced out at 2-metre intervals. Stock inside wasn’t bad. I bought toilet rolls (not our usual brand, but acceptable) and there was plenty of bread, both baked in-store and from the big bakeries. For me, the annoying empty shelves were the pasta and rice area, with only a few of the more expensive items left. There was plenty of fresh veg and fruit. This morning, they were better organised apart from a problem they had with the front doors which delayed opening. There were people in the car park (reduced to half its normal size) asking anyone obviously you to wait. The trollies (carts) were all lined up by the door and an assistant was wiping them down before handing them out. Inside, they have instituted a one-way system up and down the aisles although many people ignored it, although we were all being ultra-polite and keeping our distance. Shelves were better stocked and I bought pasta and rice. They are still limiting quantities on some products but that did not affect me. We won’t go hungry and our bums will still be wiped, although my wife has cornered the remaining ultra-soft TP. There were several people wearing face masks today and while standing in the queue, I watched a couple who seemed to spend the whole time fiddling with them. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/277 "2020-04-03T16:53:23Z")
Though there was still no TP at Albertsons a couple of days ago, they did have paper towels which is encouraging. Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/278 "2020-04-03T17:53:55Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > You mean once opened, right? There’s such a thing as [UHT milk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-temperature_processing). The shelf life for the unopened and unrefrigerated ones in my kitchen is a year and a day. I think **PT** meant raw milk, collected from the cows into a tanker but before it’s been homogenized and pasteurized. An unopened carton will, indeed, keep for far longer than a couple days. I took a car in for servicing Tuesday morning. Since the appointment was 8am, right after they open, when I was waiting a worker came by with two rolls of toilet paper. I said, “Precious stuff.” He said, “Yeah, we had some disappear so now we’re not keeping spares in the bathrooms and taking the stub when we swap out the roll just in case it doesn’t get better soon.” ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/279 "2020-04-03T19:02:17Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > I was surprised to find wheat bran out of stock. I normally buy it on line from Amazon, they’ve usually got Bob’s Red Mill in stock. The stuff has a shelf life like cesium-137 so I buy a three pack of 20 ounce bags around once a year paying $15 for the five pounds, so three bucks a pound. I just looked yesterday to replenish my supply and all Amazon had was these little 8 ounce bags at $9.99 for a half pound. > > Screw this I says and went directly to Bob’s Red Mill figuring even with shipping to beat that price, but Bob doesn’t have any either. Middle of June is when they figure to have more. I might have enough to last me until then, but it’s going to be close. Who the hell is buying up wheat bran in a pandemic? I figure a lot of people must be taking up baking in their copious free time. Thanks for this. I make bran and raisin muffins and normally buy wheat bran at the bulk area at Whole Foods. I paid way too much for a pound of wheat bran on Amazon but it will be here in two weeks and I can avoid Whole Foods. I have had the best luck in general at Vons and Albertson’s while people are waiting in long lines at Trader Joe’s. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2020, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294/280 "2020-04-03T19:05:02Z")
A little off-topic, but I didn’t want to start a new thread and this one was the closest match. We ordered takeout last night. I was my brother’s birthday so we decided to do something a little nicer than usual. We placed a takeout order from a chain steakhouse, one of the restaurants in the mall parking lot. We ordered at 4:30 for a five o’clock pickup. When I called in, they said they would bring it to the car. I was kind of expecting that I would pull into an empty parking lot, honk the horn, then someone would bring out my lonely order. I was surprised. The place was jamming. They had a system set up where they would take your name, put a numbered sign on your car, and direct you to a numbered parking spot. Then someone would come out, take payment, and deliver your order. There were 20-25 cars picking up their orders when I came in, and a long line waiting for numbers and parking spots by the time we left. The Olive Garden Restaurant across the way seemed equally busy. The other restaurants in the mall parking lot weren’t quite as busy, but they seemed to be doing a healthy business for 5PM on Thursday. I was really glad to see so much takeout food activity, it made me feel a little bit more optimistic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/went-to-costco-this-morning-was-a-little-bit-scary/849294.md?page=15)