For all the support that flooded in for diaper-less Lauren, no-one seemed to suggest it might be a bloody good idea to have a few ordinary cloth nappies in the hall cupboard for back-up. Photo / File
For all the support that flooded in for diaper-less Lauren, no-one seemed to suggest it might be a bloody good idea to have a few ordinary cloth nappies in the hall cupboard for back-up. Photo / File
COMMENT
Last week, yet another online clip was said to have gone "viral". Covid-19 casualties and all the national lockdowns now rightfully demand more considered use of that already hackneyed term.
But the clip featured this distraught, tearful young mother - Lauren Whitney of Utah.
Lauren had a meltdown inthe aisle of her local Walmart on finding that the acreage of shelf space normally allotted to disposable nappies was EMPTY!
Luckily though, she had the presence of mind to selfie-video her distress, which duly found its way on to the all-pervasive web.
But for all the support that flooded in for diaper-less Lauren, no one seemed to suggest it might be a bloody good idea to have a few ordinary cloth nappies in the hall cupboard for back-up, and actually it wasn't even necessary to have "proper" cloth nappies because you could improvise with all sorts of other cloth or towelling as well.
Maybe if Lauren was aware life was still possible without disposable nappies, she might not have become quite so distraught.
In fact, perhaps having used cloth ones a few times, she may have also realised they were a heck of a lot cheaper than using chuck-away landfill-bound ones, and she wouldn't have to work so many hours at the part-time job she now works to help family finances.
VirusFacts2
Now there may be other circumstances at play here that make it highly impractical if not unfeasible for Lauren to employ cloth nappies, in which case I apologise in advance.
But I'm sure many similar gross consumerist scenarios abound that have also been rudely exposed by Covid-19's pestilential devastation and disruption.
The exponential attraction to, and reliance on, veritable mountains of consumerist gimcrackery over the past several decades beggars belief.
ALERT_STAGES
It's partly why we have that even bigger threat hanging over "civilisation as we know it" – the climate thing. And it's all helping create a virtual world wherein many have lost – or lack from the outset - any real connection to the basics of existence.
I've known adults who - don't ask me how – have somehow attained what passes for adulthood, thinking that food is something that just magically appears on supermarket shelves or gets spat out of takeaway joints.
Unbelievably, they have no conception that stuff has to be grown first.
Who knows what percolates through their minds when they have to traverse the supermarket's fruit and vegetable section to get to the pizza freezer?
Perhaps they think all those odd-shaped objects such as avocados and cauliflowers are weird astronomical missiles that have randomly rained from the heavens and been subsequently herded into a depot at the supermarket awaiting consignment to the tip in big black plastic bags that time cannot decay.
Then again, they may never have visited a supermarket in their lives.
It's not uncommon for individuals to lead hobbit-like nocturnal lives in curtains-drawn bedrooms, aided and abetted by indulgent family members who supply the basics of life while the troglodyte trips increasingly farther down fantasy lane via gaming console and electronic gizmos.
On the plus side, though, it's reassuring that vegetable seedlings have also been flying off nursery shelves.
It seems people haven't entirely forgotten it's possible to grow food directly, minus accompanying plastic or cardboard packaging.
Other positive long-term benefits will also emerge as people realise such measures as working from home, increased skyping and video conferencing, phone shopping, and so forth, can keep things functioning perfectly well while drastically reducing overheads and travel costs.
The virus is exacting a heavy toll but some good will result if it demonstrates more sustainable lifestyle options are easily do-able.
