Even in a panic, nobody wants lima beans, a phenomenon I observed as I was looking for black beans and red kidneys. I know I’m not the only one who noticed because, without me saying a word, my sister’s brother-in-law sent her a telltale photo from a grocery store in Kentucky, which totally supports my point. But I’m starting in the middle of the story, so perhaps I should rewind to Thursday afternoon, March 12, 2020.

When we got the news that BYU was closing for the coronavirus, my daughter, Abby, and I headed to Provo for our weekly dinner with Chase, our computery BYU student and resident smart aleck, hoping to entice him to pack up his hard drive and head home with us. I knew it was a fool’s errand, mom and sister simply cannot compete with girls, girls, girls, and other assorted friends. But I did extract a promise that if the party ponies ever evacuated, he would call and I would drop everything to go get him, dirty socks and everything. By the time we were driving home it was getting late and I was tired, but Abby was busily reading every coronastory as it broke. She called Porter, who was home because all school activities, including play rehearsals had been cancelled.

“We’re picking you up in an hour and going to the store.”

“Why am I going?” he asked disconsolately.

“Because everyone is doing panic buying, so we’re going to do some panic buying too. It will be fun.” Read More