Coronavirus: It’s pretty bad when Amazon is the one saying you’re being a jerk

The potential pandemic from the novel coronavirus has offered some unexpected opportunity for people-watching. And it’s revealing the best and worst of what a potential crisis brings out in human behavior.

At a big box warehouse store the other day, I saw a woman and her kid pushing and pulling three carts — not even kidding here — of toilet paper. Underneath each cart, on the little shelf, she had stowed lots of bottled water, too.

Amid fears of pandemic, people are stocking up on supplies, which is a good thing, even though some of them are not stocking up logically.

The municipal water supply will be fine, although she will be ready if that much-anticipated earthquake hits and she hadn’t set aside water before now.

Those gigantic rolls of toilet paper could represent something a little more concerning, although in general there’s nothing wrong with having a good supply on hand if you have room to stow it.

The problem comes when a whole bunch of people at the same time overdo the job of stocking up on basic needs we all have. And it’s especially bad when people over-grab items like masks that they won’t really need unless someone does get sick and requires one to reduce the spread of coughs and sneezes. But that won’t take a ton of masks, either.

If people buy too much of an item, whether it’s toilet paper or masks, it means others who need them, too, won’t be able to get them. Over the past few days we’ve seen people buy scads of cold medicine and other over-the-counter drugs that are likely to expire before a family could even overuse some of them during an illness, COVID-19 or not.

Plenty of people who have the flu right now may not be able to find it easily. People setting aside a reasonable two-week supply for their emergency prep may not find it, either.

As for masks, health care providers who actually need them are already saying it’s hard to get them at the moment. If we hoard them in quantity, that will be worse. And it’s probably a waste of money, too. Both pocketbooks and store shelves look ravaged.

That’s just those who tend to overprepare. Far more problematic — downright odious — are the folks who use a potential public health crisis to gouge others. Over the past two weeks I watched the price of even the papery masks that aren’t expected to do much against coronavirus double and triple in price until a box of 50 online reached close to $3 each for masks that used to be nickels and dimes.

Some will call that entrepreneurship, a nod to supply and demand. I don’t see it that way when it plays on fear and a public health threat, or keeps people with a legitimate existing need from getting hold of a product.

Amazon has taken down at least hundreds of listings for products that are misrepresented as being helpful against this coronavirus or that are so overpriced it’s obscene. The shame is that Amazon had to police what should have been common sense and decency. No one cares if you make a reasonable profit. But really. ...

In coming days, we’ll see tons of misinformation about coronavirus. We’ll see more xenophobic garbage about people of Asian descent, like the rumors that circulated in Salt Lake City that a New York dance company performing here had come from China and posed a risk. Ridiculous. The state epidemiologist even called that one out.

There are certain things we can all do to lessen the challenge that a predicted significant outbreak of COVID-19 could pose in our communities. We can share good information and check our sources. Among the best for information are CDC.gov and health departments.

We can stop sharing garbage information from the internet, lest we drown in it. Do some vetting.

We can check on those who are elderly or live alone to be sure they have some basic supplies, our contact information if they need help and that they’re OK.

I’m also going to make it a point to shop at the local Asian market and dine at my favorite Chinese-food restaurant. These are members of my community. When they do well, so do I.