HAWTHORNDALE CHEMIST STRIPPED OF PANADOL 48 HOURS BEFORE FORECAST DRIZZLE
It was a Tuesday morning in Hawthorndale. Nothing about that day suggested what was about to unfold.
It was a Tuesday morning in Hawthorndale. The sky over Invercargill was the colour of a dishcloth, the oysters were in season, and MetService had issued what it politely termed a "light rain event" for Thursday afternoon.
By 9.14am, every packet of Panadol on the shelves of the Hawthorndale pharmacy was gone. By 9.16am, so was the generic paracetamol. By 9.22am, our subject — a pharmacy assistant named Denise, three weeks into the job — was standing behind the counter explaining to a queue of 14 people that no, there was none out the back either.
"I've never seen anything like it, aye," Denise told The Daily Yarn, still slightly shaken. "One bloke bought sixteen boxes. Sixteen! Said his missus gets headaches when the barometer moves. I said mate, it's moving two hectopascals."
Customer Raewyn Petersen, 61, was unrepentant. "Last time it rained proper my Kevin got a migraine and we couldn't get to the Warehouse for three days. Never again." Asked whether stockpiling 40 tablets for a Thursday shower was proportionate, Raewyn said she was "also getting the ibuprofen, just in case", and left before further questions.
A Green Cross spokesperson confirmed the Hawthorndale branch was "experiencing higher than usual demand for analgesics ahead of anticipated meteorological conditions" and that a resupply was expected "Friday, weather permitting". Pressed on the irony, they hung up.
As of filing, Denise had been redeployed to the Berocca aisle, where a separate queue was forming. The forecast drizzle is now tracking slightly north.
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Reader Letters
★ BarryBishopdale
The council's fault, as always.
★ Garry (Halswell)
Back in my day, we didn't panic over a shower. Standards have really slipped since then. This panic buying is just over the top and frankly quite ridiculous. It's like we’ve forgotten how to handle a bit of drizzle without needing a pharmacy degree. Hawthorndale, what are you doing?
★ Trev_Hornby
Blimey, bit of rain and people lose their heads. Denise's first ordeal, on the job just a few weeks and already handling crisis level nonsense! She’ll have some stories. The real piss-take is the excuse 'weather permitting' for restock. Nah, just do your job, mate.
sunny_jane
Mate, it's just a spot of rain. Now we're acting like it's the apocalypse.
wayward_gaz
Mate, Denise is doing her best. You try dealing with that many people after a panic buyout!
tired_in_riccarton
Can't those bloody oysters cure headaches?
Sandra McKenzie
Weather permitting? That's not a thing. The Green Cross should have been prepared for this, drizzle or not.
couchgremlin
Mate, you're right. They had the forecast!
★ JoannePetone
Honestly, it’s becoming a joke. Stockpiling for drizzle, next it’ll be for a light breeze. Get a grip, people.
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