Come On Montana, We’re Better Than This

I've got to tell you that I am pretty disappointed by my fellow man right now. When stories first started springing up a week or so ago in other states about people hoarding basic necessities and store shelves being wiped clean of any food item you'd actually want to eat... I thought, "surely it won't be like this in Montana."

Nope. It's blatantly obvious that we are just as selfish as everybody else. You probably saw the huge lines at Costco wrapping all the way down the sidewalk to the tire department this week. You probably went to Walmart or Target or Albertsons to get a few groceries and saw entire shelves empty and maybe watched people taking overflowing carts full of toilet paper and bottled water back to their cars. Other shoppers are taking ALL the diapers and wipes. People that have never cooked rice or beans once in their lives, suddenly deciding to buy ALL the rice and beans. Purely panic buying. GTFO here with that nonsense.

A person (bravely?) posted on one of those Billings Community Facebook pages saying that basically, because she could afford to buy everything in sight, she did. Most of the comments on her post were not very positive. Many of us live paycheck-to-paycheck and just because you can afford to buy a years worth of toilet paper at once, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Seems pretty asshole-ish, if you ask me.

I know that in the back of our minds, all of us are concerned about what is going to happen in the next few weeks. Even if you are not worried about the coronavirus on its own, you've got to be at least a little concerned about the side effects of the situation. Will all the schools in Montana close? I'm guessing they will. Nearly every other public event has. Will restaurants and bars be forced to close? Will you be sent home from work to slow the spread of germs? Will there be mandatory orders to not leave your house except for emergencies? Maybe? Possibly? Or maybe not. I don't know. But I'd like to think we - as Montanan's - are better than this.

We have a page we're updating regularly regarding COVID-19. Including local event closures, reports from Riverstone Health, school notices, etc. HERE.