# What are you surprised that there is not a shortage of?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-surprised-that-there-is-not-a-shortage-of/852193>\
**Category:** The Quarantine Zone\
**Tags:** covid-quarantine\
**Created:** [April 20, 2020, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-surprised-that-there-is-not-a-shortage-of/852193 "2020-04-20T14:38:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\
**Post date:** [April 22, 2020, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-surprised-that-there-is-not-a-shortage-of/852193/61 "2020-04-22T17:26:03Z")

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Today’s booze run also had me checking out the paper goods aisle at our local. Wonder of wonders, they had our preferred brand in large packages. But not many of them. So I grabbed a 12 pack. But no Kleenex to be found in any packaging, and scant offerings in paper towels, even with buying restrictions.

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**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\
**Post date:** [April 27, 2020, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-surprised-that-there-is-not-a-shortage-of/852193/62 "2020-04-27T23:41:49Z")

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> [@Horatius](#):
>
> I said elsewhere when this was first starting that it was amusing to see snobbishness still applied in panic buying. Where I was, the high-end rices like Basmati were all sold out, while the shelf of Minute Rice and Uncle Ben’s was virtually untouched.

Dunno your neighborhood, but that was smart 🙂

Basmati is aged rice, and ages well. Chinese rice goes stale.

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**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-surprised-that-there-is-not-a-shortage-of/852193/63 "2020-04-28T00:25:00Z")

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> [@Melbourne](#):
>
> Dunno your neighborhood, but that was smart 🙂
> 
> Basmati is aged rice, and ages well. Chinese rice goes stale.

What do you mean by Chinese rice? Regular white rice?

That keeps indefinitely.

> **[How Long Does Uncooked White Rice Last?](https://www.stilltasty.com/fooditems/index/18186)**
>
> Find out how long you can keep uncooked white rice, learn how to maximize the shelf life of white rice and how to tell if white rice is still good.

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**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\
**Post date:** [April 28, 2020, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-surprised-that-there-is-not-a-shortage-of/852193/64 "2020-04-28T23:11:15Z")

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> [@D\_Anconia](#):
>
> What do you mean by Chinese rice? Regular white rice?
> 
> That keeps indefinitely.
> 
> [How Long Does Uncooked White Rice Last?](https://www.stilltasty.com/fooditems/index/18186)

I think the Chinese and the Japanese are more picky about their rice than that.

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**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\
**Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-you-surprised-that-there-is-not-a-shortage-of/852193/65 "2020-04-29T01:01:53Z")

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> [@Melbourne](#):
>
> I think the Chinese and the Japanese are more picky about their rice than that.

It’s not about being picky. It just doesn’t spoil.

Why did you say otherwise?

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