Have you made a pandemic purchase you regret? Some of us definitely have

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – It’s been nearly a year since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic had us rushing into retail and grocery stores to stock up on supplies.

But we’re finding out not everything we bought was put to good use.

I, Monika Gul, have a big bag of rice still sitting — unopened — in my pantry a year later. After talking with others in the newsroom, I found I’m not the only one.

“Yeah we have a baking supply hangover. We managed to get some cornstarch, which was in short supply early on. Grabbed it off the shelf — it was a big one, 1 kilogram of cornstarch. We’ll have enough to last us basically for the rest of our lives,” says reporter Mike Lloyd, who will likely be thickening a lot of sauces in the months (or years) to come.

NEWS 1130’s Martin MacMahon put some of his money toward a 12 pack of pudding last year — and yes, it’s still kicking around.

“I don’t even eat pudding, that’s the thing. It’s still there in the back of the cupboard. And I just looked at the back of the box — August 2020 was when those pudding cups expired, so,” says Martin, who explains he did have a reason for his purchase — even though he doesn’t actually like pudding.

“My thinking was if I do get sick and I’m coughing up a storm and I’m stuck at home for a couple of weeks, I want things that are easy to eat.”

NEWS 1130 legislative reporter Liza Yuzda decided to support a small business when she bought two pairs of shoes. But seeing as she hasn’t been out much in the last year, she hasn’t gotten much use out of them.

“They are sitting in my closet shaming me every day because I work at home. I don’t, hardly leave my bedroom so there’s not a lot of need for shoes,” she says. “I don’t know, I don’t know if my feet are even going to fit them. It’s been, what is it now? February? It has been probably 11 months since I purchased these shoes.”

Social media producer Lasia Kretzel jumped on the hand sanitizer train early on, buying two “giant” bottles.

“But, turns out, when you are putting your hand sanitizer next to the bathroom sink, you’re probably just more likely to use soap and water, which works just as well,” she says.

Morning anchor Amanda Wawryk made a relatively reasonable purchase — even though she’s still holding onto it a year later.

“Toilet paper was all selling out. The only thing I could find were these things on Amazon called Dude Wipes. I’ve never opened them but I have three packs of them,” she explains. “Honestly, they’re like the moist toilettes for the washroom. I don’t know why they’re called Dude Wipes? I assume they would work for women as well.”

From toilet paper to yeast to canned soup, we stocked up on some random items at the start of pandemic.
This morning, @MonikaGul is finding out what members of the @NEWS1130 team stockpiled.
My awkward purchase? Dude Wipes. Because I couldn’t find TP at the time. pic.twitter.com/TGd14hTP5U

— Amanda Wawryk (@AmandaWawryk) February 26, 2021

And CityNews reporter Ashley Burr was thinking about hydration when she bought her now-unused item in 2020.

“I bought a jug that holds three gallons of water because I thought we might need it. I don’t know what I was thinking, if I thought we’d lose water? Or electricity? And now it just sits empty in my laundry room.”

Did you buy anything early on in the pandemic that is now collecting dust somewhere? Let us know! Tweet us @NEWS1130 or comment on Facebook.