I'VE NOTICED: ‘Preppers’ quietly stock up for the ‘perfect storm.’

It may not be a 'perfect' storm, but a storm is certainly coming. In particular, I've noticed a lot of empty shelves in our neighborhood grocery stores. Many (most?) nonperishable/frozen foods in particular sell almost as fast as the shelves can be restocked. For the major stores with daily deliveries, restocking is usually next day - maybe two - but I've been to our neighborhood Dollar General store many times recently only to find the shelves empty or nearly so.

Our cats are not happy; their favorite soft food is oftentimes not available. (I'm told by one of the store managers that the manufacturers cannot hire enough employees to operate at full capacity - because COVID and overgenerous unemployment compensation.)