You only have hours.

So this evening there was a meeting at church for the group of ladies. We call this group "Relief Society."

Part of the evening was taken by my dear Aunt Sheila discussing how retail works. She has been working at Walmart for years now.

I found her message surprisingly ominous.

There are no real warehouses any more. Did you know that? I thought there were. Big buildings where they store things to be sold later.

Too expensive.

Now things get made, sent to distribution warehouses and are pushed right back out the door as fast as possible. They don't store things, at least not long term.

She talked about the deliveries. The 24 hours cycles that the merchandise comes in through. ( I don't want this to sound self righteous. I just don't think the story makes as much sense without it. Latterday Saints generally don't go shopping on Sundays.) She asked how many of us had been shopping there late on a Saturday evening. Yup, you can find bare shelves on those nights. They physically can not keep enough product on the shelf. She has had to work Sunday afternoons for a while. Sheila said Sunday's are even worse than Saturdays. There isn't enough man power to keep food up for the demand.

Each night the shelves are completely restocked.  By Sunday evening much of the basic items milk, eggs, Doritos etc are gone. 24 hours and it empty.

So now you are thinking, OK thanks for some random trivia.

What are you going to do if there is a flood? Or a tornado? Or a blizzard? What if there is some emergency? 18-24 hours without a truck with more food in and suddenly those shelves are bare. Even if the trucks can bring in product, if there is a run on an item there is no back up in the warehouse.

There are no supplies left to buy after 3 days.

Many of you are aware I try here and there to be prepared for an emergency. I am trying to help you to understand you need it in your own home. I have to help my family first. Take care of yours.

Grab some extra toilet paper. Grab a few more cans of soup. Some drinking water. It won't go to waste. It brings great peace. Be it unemployment, serious illness, natural or unnatural disaster, it will be wonderful to have something the things you need.