Competition has been fierce for toilet paper in Queanbeyan over the past few days. It's even pushed some locals to petty crime. One Facebook user was horrified to see a man steal from an elderly woman.
"Our hero observed an elderly woman, who said she was 90, walking across the pedestrian crossing between Riverside and Kmart," Michelle St Claire wrote on the Queanbeyan Community Notice Board. "Within seconds, our hero leapt into action, and stole the toilet paper she just purchased from the pouch in her walker, and ran off." Fortunately the episode ended happily. "The lady went back into Riverside to another shop, and they gave her the packet they were keeping for the staff toilet ... Legends!"
Some residents are struggling to find household basics. Supermarket shelves across town have been emptied of toilet paper, while tissues and hand sanitisers, meat and bread, pasta, rice, flour, frozen vegetables, and tinned tomatoes are in short supply. "The last week has been crazy in supermarkets, absolutely crazy," SUPA IGA manager Paul Purcell said. "We need to calm down a bit - get a little bit of everything, and let everyone else get a bit. The panic people are in makes it difficult for those who actually need the products. A lot of people are stockpiling things they don't need to." Mr Purcell urged shoppers to think about their neighbours, particularly the elderly. "They are the people who will be most affected by the virus," Mr Purcell said. "It would be really good if we could make sure they got a chance at the supermarkets before everyone."
Woolworths announced that from Tuesday it would open all its stores across Australia an hour early, exclusively for the elderly and disabled. From Thursday, the supermarket will also offer care packages containing essential items.
Meals on Wheels will soon donate toilet rolls with each meal once they receive supplies, Helen Debritt said. They also offer a transport service and shopping assistance for clients. The organisation has also reinforced handwashing when volunteers visit clients and prepare meals.
For many in town, though, it's business as usual. The education department will keep schools open (no doubt disappointing a few kids) and QPAC has reassured the public that, at this stage, all its shows will go ahead as scheduled.
- A doctor's advice, page 6
Nicholas Fuller
The exciting thing about journalism is the variety; one can explore the world, meet interesting people and write about it. I've sat in the caravan of an African circus ringmaster; I've squatted on my haunches in a plastic-sorting factory in the Mumbai slums, talking to the workers and drinking hot chai in plastic cups the size of thimbles; and I've interviewed Chinese cultural attachés, Danish football stars and Japanese drummers. Now I’ve come to the Northern Tablelands as a group journalist working across six of Fairfax’s mastheads. Living in New England is a return to country. My father’s side of the family lived here since the 19th century. My great-great-grandparents are buried in Ben Lomond. My great-grandmother and grandmother spent most of their lives in and around Glencoe and Glen Innes, and are both buried in Tamworth. My grandfather isn’t; his ashes are in a cupboard until we throw them in the Macdonald, near Bendemeer, where he used to fish. And my father cut his teeth as a cadet journalist on the Northern Daily Leader, before moving to Canberra, and studied history at UNE. Moving here is following in the family footsteps. Armidale seems charming: up here, in Australia’s highest city, one feels close to the sky. And the mixture of 1830s historic buildings; green, rain-washed hills, crowned with conifers; and one of the country’s leading universities give it a unique appeal. I completed my journalism qualifications last year, while freelancing for newspapers and magazines, and holding down a full-time job. I spent the end of last year in Sri Lanka, where I reported on visiting Buddhist dignitaries (from exotic Perth), UN development programs, Italian food weeks, and hotels in former war-zones. Previously, I worked as a writer and editor for the Australian Government in Canberra for a decade. In my day job, I briefed members of parliament about international relations, and wrote about agricultural aid programs to developing countries. Journalism, though, is where my heart lies. I want to experience life, rather than sit behind a desk. And, having grown up in Belgium, I want to be Tintin. I hope to get to know and love the region where my ancestors lived, while reporting on issues important to the Tablelands.
The exciting thing about journalism is the variety; one can explore the world, meet interesting people and write about it. I've sat in the caravan of an African circus ringmaster; I've squatted on my haunches in a plastic-sorting factory in the Mumbai slums, talking to the workers and drinking hot chai in plastic cups the size of thimbles; and I've interviewed Chinese cultural attachés, Danish football stars and Japanese drummers. Now I’ve come to the Northern Tablelands as a group journalist working across six of Fairfax’s mastheads. Living in New England is a return to country. My father’s side of the family lived here since the 19th century. My great-great-grandparents are buried in Ben Lomond. My great-grandmother and grandmother spent most of their lives in and around Glencoe and Glen Innes, and are both buried in Tamworth. My grandfather isn’t; his ashes are in a cupboard until we throw them in the Macdonald, near Bendemeer, where he used to fish. And my father cut his teeth as a cadet journalist on the Northern Daily Leader, before moving to Canberra, and studied history at UNE. Moving here is following in the family footsteps. Armidale seems charming: up here, in Australia’s highest city, one feels close to the sky. And the mixture of 1830s historic buildings; green, rain-washed hills, crowned with conifers; and one of the country’s leading universities give it a unique appeal. I completed my journalism qualifications last year, while freelancing for newspapers and magazines, and holding down a full-time job. I spent the end of last year in Sri Lanka, where I reported on visiting Buddhist dignitaries (from exotic Perth), UN development programs, Italian food weeks, and hotels in former war-zones. Previously, I worked as a writer and editor for the Australian Government in Canberra for a decade. In my day job, I briefed members of parliament about international relations, and wrote about agricultural aid programs to developing countries. Journalism, though, is where my heart lies. I want to experience life, rather than sit behind a desk. And, having grown up in Belgium, I want to be Tintin. I hope to get to know and love the region where my ancestors lived, while reporting on issues important to the Tablelands.
