@a763f0a6 

in the early 1980's, my dad was working in downtown SF when his company brought in an emergency preparedness coach. The employees were told to have a good pair of walking shoes in their desk as the streets would be covered in glass and no transportation in the city would be available for days - walking would be the only way out. They were also told that they should have rolls and rolls of toilet paper as it would be used to barter goods. 

He died a few years later. We received his hiking boots when his coworkers cleaned out his desk. 

When the pandemic hit, my mother had her stash of 40 rolls.