Survival Instinct of “Fight or Flight” shopping during Covid-19
Survival Instinct of “Fight or Flight” shopping during Covid-19
History
“In Stone Age (8700-2000 BC), our ancestors lived below the
margin, with barely enough food to get by and no secure shelter. Or they
experienced a direct threat to their lives from a predator, a natural disaster,
or another human being. There are no historical records of what Stone Age
people did in such circumstances, but it stands to reason that they fought
furiously. And certainly, those human beings willing to do anything to save
themselves would be those that lived to pass on the genes that encoded such
determination .” Harvard Business Review, July-1998.
Present Times
After curfew being relaxed for a few hours to purchase essential items aftermath of
Covid-19 pandemic. I went to buy groceries from the supermarket which I regularly
shop in Colombo, and I selected this supermarket after tactically thinking
since it was surrounded by few other supermarkets and I knew the shelves and
location of the goods. After waiting more than three hours in the queue, and
for the first time when I saw the name board of the supermarket, I felt like Pheidippides
running towards Athens from Marton. I was severely dehydrated and hungry, and when
my turn came up to go inside the supermarket I almost collapsed, not due to any
heatstroke but due to the shelves being empty. When I entered inside, I
realised the essential items were not available and not even trollies or
baskets available, and I was able to buy a few items from the shopping list
prepared the previous night. I felt embarrassed and disappointed about not being
able to buy any vegetables or dry rations.
Survival Instinct
Humans have instincts and are genetically hard-wired but what we saw on the
above scenarios are the survival instincts which is the most
powerful one among all. Inside the supermarket, everyone was showing the ‘herd
behaviour’ combined with the survival instinct as of ‘ice age’ and the 'Adlerian
rush' was obvious and visible. There was no one adhering for neither the social
distancing nor any government health instructions, but purey survival instinct and
I felt lots of panic in the air.
Fight or Flight Reactions
The fight-or-flight reaction of people kicked in both inside and outside the
supermarket. People exhibited their ‘fight reaction’ due to
the covetous act of ‘panic buying’; I have
read this term before but I have never witnessed it, and Tuesday. 24-Mar-2020
was my first time. The people standing toward the end of the queue left as the
word started spreading that shelves are empty by showing a ‘flight
reaction’ to this situation.
Humanity
While standing in the queue (everyone’s subconscious mind forgot the
one-meter distance) in conversation with the strangers, and I was blessed with
the opportunity to give my spot to three senior citizens who were right
behind me as I understood their difficulty to stand for a long time with their
age and ailments. In another supermarket, my batchmate LR (denoted by initials)
was able to grab the last two remaining Dettol Handwash but when she saw
another senior citizen wanting the same, she generously gave away one, this was
just after one person took many bottles of Dettol handwash. In times of scarcity, a
greedy caveman who refused to share his food stores during an ‘ice age’ (18,000
years ago) and at the onset of winter would have been more likely to survive (Eric
R. Pianka, 2012).
At the same time, people are also programmed for friendliness. Sharing
food was the basis for the cooperative exchange with relative strangers in the
hunter-gatherer clan (HBR). In both incidents, it showed the qualities of humanity
was evident where empathy and mindreading took place, also, people did not
scream or do other acts of aggression here. Everyone could have reacted based
on rational analysis and using logical conclusions instead the matured, wise
and kind-hearted were able to suppress their emotions. In a spiritual context,
you can even say this as thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself (Mat 22:37) as
mentioned in many of the religions, maybe in different words but leading to the
same meaning.
Kindness from Heart-to-Heart
After I shared a message that I failed to buy essential items in a
WhatsApp group (where LR also a member) both AP and AW (denoted by initials) called and asked me what
are the essential items missing to be delivered to the house. I never
expected such level of kindness or generosity, and we also received a jakfruit from the
neighbourhood from a person whom I had never spoken before but only smiled a
few times. You can call it God showering upon blessings or Karma in your own understanding
but whatever it is, let's be kind enough to help each other to over this
season; and let's suppress our survival instinct.
#surivivalinstinct #covid19 #coronavirus #curfewlifted #buygroceriecs
#buyingesstinalitems #gentocity #kindness #helpeachother #flight-or-flight
2 comments
Good read.
ReplyDeleteThank you and appreciate it :)
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