The thing with history is, as we all know, it has a funny way of repeating itself. It is six months since we all hurried to the shops to buy stuff we didn’t really need and some are doing it again.

How about we buy goods that we could actually use this time round?

The great toilet roll panic of spring 2020 was an extremely ‘western’ world affair I thought. Speaking to several people who live on the other side of the planet I was almost embarrassed to admit that we British were hurrying out to stock up on many toilet rolls as possible. I was told wouldn’t it be better to stock up on tinned food and bottled water?

I mean, it makes sense doesn’t it? Food and water should be the number one priority should it not? Toilet rolls are hardly a necessity. Or are they?

Hand washes and frozen food was next on the list. I guess this was understandable but a recent survey tells us that more than one million households have food in their fridge freezers that has been in there since 2015 or longer. Around 1 in 7 respondents (15%) said they have freezer food that they stored more than two years old and have never got round to using.

I also think by now we have also figured out that simple soap is just as good as antibacterial hand wash.

There was also another type of panic in March by different shoppers which may well be repeated this time round. I noted whilst almost everyone had a preference for toilet rolls, people in the Asian community were out loading up with as much flour and rice as they possibly could.

These being the staple diets of any meal in turn led to some shopkeepers raising the prices of some goods.

I did meet several people who were also panicky about the lamb meat (ghosht) and chicken breasts stocks running low at their local butchers. I did point out to one that his ancestors would be turning in their grave knowing how spoilt he had become as both dishes were a rarity in their day. And here he was queuing up to make sure he got his batch of seasoned lamb. Shaming him in this way did not work.

I was hoping six months on we have learned a great deal about how to survive on less and realise that we are in this for the long haul. Clearly, we haven’t.