Weird Headline

[Thorin]

Okay, so I was perusing a bit of news and then came across a story about an explosion at a chemical plant in Japan, and how that explosion could cause a ... diaper shortage?

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/29/14154759-chemical-plant-explosions-in-japan-kill-one-may-cripple-global-diaper-output

Turns out this one chemical plant creates a resin used in disposable diapers, and this one chemical plant generates 20% of the world's output of this resin, and the other plants that make this resin are all at full operating capacity.

Now, this doesn't just affect families with young babies, this also affects families with elderly members.  We start in diapers and we end in diapers.  Can you imagine going to Walmart et al for Huggies or Depends and finding the shelves empty and the employees saying the next shipment won't be for another week?

[Mr. Analog]

Well this is like when a natural disaster hits all the same semiconductor factories in SE Asia or when the few reactors that produce medical isotopes go offline for extended periods that the weakness in consolidating production becomes apparent.

I mean it makes sense to a degree, most business isn't designed with redundancy in mind (unless it's absolutely necessary).

[Thorin]

Yeah but, did you really think diapers would be affected by a single chemical plant closing?  Most people don't connect chemicals and diapers...  And this is a single factory, whereas those other examples had at least a few production sites offline at the same time.

[Mr. Analog]

I guess that's why it's news haha

[Thorin]

All I know is if I had kids under 2 or parents over 80, I'd be stocking up on diapers survival-nut-style right now...

Although I guess we could just put cloth diapers on grandma?

[Mr. Analog]

Or just poop while we walk, like the animals.

[Lazybones]

Hmm maybe I need to make a trip to costco?

[Tom]

Hmm maybe I need to make a trip to costco?

get tam into cloth diapers?



Nah, that probably wouldn't go very well.