The Internet Is Great For The Paranoid Shopper In You

from the buy-buy-buy! dept

During one summer in college I worked at a very large catalog company. The main catalog I worked on was for laboratory and safety equipment of all kinds. The company, to save money, used staff members whenever a human was needed in a catalog photo. Being the low man on the totem pole, I got the horrible job of modeling the HazMat (for those not in the business, Hazardous Materials) suit, complete with gas mask. It's the one and only time in my life I've put on a gas mask. I hope I never have to again. I was a bit surprised when a friend asked me today where one could buy a gas mask online. Apparently, this sort of safety "hoarding" is increasingly common around the US these days (the NY Times doesn't want you to hoard unless you have registered with them first). People are stocking up on canned goods, water, and things such as gas masks. The internet makes this process easier and much less embarrassing than going down to the local store. Oh yeah, as for the gas mask, why not just make your own (link found via the always interesting serialdeviant.org).