With stockpiling and panic-buying in supermarkets sweeping the globe, tensions and fighting at checkouts are following suit.
Earlier this week, a mother of 16 children was shamed at the supermarket checkout for buying her usual amount of toilet paper, and two women had a physical fight over the last few packs.
Now, another woman has shared her own story of being shamed at the checkout. Australian mum Wendy took to a popular budgeting and stockpiling Facebook group with photos of her morning supermarket shop.
"It is crazy at the shops," she wrote. "I was at Woolworths this morning to get some things I couldn't get last week, and this smartass bitch in front of me at the check out kept looking at my stuff and shaking her head.
"She then asked the lady at the register if those paper towels were for sale. The lady said 'yes, you can have two packets', and she said 'no I only want one' and looked at me and said 'I'm not greedy'.
"I said 'wtf! Come talk to me when you're feeding eight kids and not one'."
The post racked almost 600 comments, with other women chiming in with similar experiences.
"None of the stuff I bought had restrictions on them and no it's not for my stockpile it's just stuff I couldn't get last week!" wrote one person.
"Even when there's no coronavirus I get filthy looks while shopping because I shop for a whole fortnight for seven people, so its always a large amount," wrote another.
"The nerve of some people. So you should feel ashamed for spending your own money to feed your own family?" wrote another.
Last week an economics professor in the US gave insight into why people are panic-buying at supermarkets, saying even if you're not personally concerned about an outbreak, you may worry that everyone else is and they'll stockpile basic necessities before you can.
