Where's the Boba?🧋
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Episode 91 Description
🚢 Missing pickles and waits for bikes, learn what is causing global shortages.🥤What are the strangest items impacted this year? Correspondent Pamela Kirkland breaks down the impact of our buying habits during the pandemic. ✅ Catch up on the headlines. 🐶 Hear about the world’s shortest dog in today’s Trivia on the Ten!
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Sources for this episode:
https://www.foodandwine.com/news/pickle-shortage-burger-king-chicken-sandwich-delay
https://www.npr.org/2021/05/01/986539732/got-mud-for-coastal-cities-humble-dirt-has-become-a-hot-commodity
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/24/990353928/boba-shortage-could-stretch-into-summer-leave-businesses-in-a-bind
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/18/nyregion/bike-shortage-coronavirus.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/01/06/animal-shelters-coronavirus-pandemic/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/22/us/dog-adoptions-pandemic.html
https://apnews.com/article/tulsa-racial-injustice-race-and-ethnicity-fc9c5f49f5be1d14a5a6f8321b210239
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/31/black-wall-street-was-shattered-100-years-ago-how-tulsa-race-massacre-was-covered-up.html
https://apnews.com/article/tulsa-racial-injustice-race-and-ethnicity-fc9c5f49f5be1d14a5a6f8321b210239
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/31/sports/tennis/naomi-osaka-quits-the-french-open.html
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/new-river-gorge-west-virginia-newest-national-park/index.html
https://www.npr.org/local/305/2021/05/28/1001245052/shakespeare-theatre-company-announces-new-season-with-britney-spears-powered-musical
https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/smallest-dog-living-(height)
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-5924809/Worlds-cloned-dog-Miracle-Milly-copied-record-breaking-49-times.html
TRANSCRIPT:
Various voices 0:00
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
Bethany Van Delft 0:07
I'm Bethany Van Delft and this is The Ten News where we get the lowdown on what's up in the world. It's Thursday, June 3. Let me ask you something, have things been coming up a little bit short lately, from dirt to dogs, computer chips to ketchup. Lots of everyday things have been in short supply because of the pandemic. Today, we'll explore all about just what shortages are, and what they mean. Let's get into The Ten. Since the pandemic started, the world has been talking about shortages. Everyday items like food, toiletries, and even medical equipment have been tough to come by for some people. But what does that mean exactly? And what causes a shortage? Here to give us a primer is our correspondent Pamela Kirkland.
Pamela 1:00
We've seen a bunch of things fly off the shelves during the pandemic, from toilet paper to baking supplies, even dirt. Okay, although we may be nearing the end of the pandemic, yay, there have been a lot of random things in short supply lately, shortages happen because of disruptions to something called the supply chain. What does that mean? Think of the supply chain is all the steps it takes to make a product. Trucks bring it to a store, a person buys it, and eventually brings it home. We all remember the toilet paper shortage of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic first started, people immediately hit stores to stock up on food, paper towels, Lysol and hand sanitizer. We saw those things in short supply because people bought as much of it as they could, not knowing how the pandemic would turn out. But the pandemic really messed with shipping, trucking and deliveries. During the production part of the supply chain, companies plan out how to assemble their products. Based on how long it takes to make the product they set their delivery dates when the product gets shipped out to the store. All of this is planned out way ahead of time so companies know how long it takes to make a product and stores know when they can expect products to arrive. So when demand for a product changes because everyone is stuck at home sneaking into their refrigerator, they can't just flip a switch and make more supply. Like when restaurants closed, people started cooking most of their meals at home. That increased demand for groceries and meant your local grocery store had to work harder to keep items on the shelves. One week, maybe your mom couldn't find regular Oreos. Another week bread flour and yeast were gone. We even had a condiment crisis.
A Kid 2:57
Are you kidding me?
Pamela 2:58
The demand for ketchup packets increased because we were ordering takeout all the time. As our shopping habits changed, stores had to adjust what they were keeping in stock and panic buying, what happens when people buy as much of something as they can because they're afraid it will go out of stock made it even harder for stores to keep supplies on the shelves.
A Kid 3:20
Okay, that's bad.
Pamela 3:21
Speaking of panic buying, it created a gas shortage on the East Coast a few weeks ago after people were afraid gas stations might run out of fuel. But there's no shortage of gasoline. It's a shortage of truck drivers. Tanker truck drivers who deliver gas to the stations are hard to find. The pandemic shortages we saw range from regular everyday items to things like bicycles and trampolines. As things start to return to normal, here's hoping that items we struggled to find start making their way back to stores.
Bethany Van Delft 3:55
As the US and other countries around the world recover from the pandemic, we'll see if items start coming back in stock on the shelves. As long as they don't run out of cookies and cream hard frozen yogurt, I'm okay. What? They did? No!
So now that we know what a shortage is, what exactly have we all been missing in our lives? A lot! Over the last year people and companies have had trouble finding some interesting items that you don't really think you'd ever run out of. So get ready for a roundup of the top five strangest shortages during the pandemic.
Number one, pickles. Earlier this year in Michigan fast food chain Burger King was getting ready to roll out a brand new sandwich but found they were missing a key ingredient: pickles. The pickle problem was actually not because of the salty snack itself, but because of the jars. Companies were having trouble getting glass jars. resulting in a pickle panic.
Number two, for those of you who walk on top of it every day, it might seem impossible that there'd be a dirt shortage. But for coastal communities combating rising seas, they need dirt. Hundreds of thousands of truckloads of it. This dirt is used to build levees and to restore and protect wetlands and other coastal spaces, and the massive amount of need has created a shortfall.
Number three, boba. That's the tapioca treat in bubble tea, a drink made popular in the United States by Asian American communities. Good ingredients to make the chewy little pearls are typically shipped in and received at docks on the east and west coasts. But for the past year, people have been ordering more online and boxes are pouring in, leaving not enough dock workers and truck drivers to handle the load. The backlog plus the boba boom has created a shortage that some say could last through mid-summer.
A Kid 6:05
This is an outrage.
Bethany Van Delft 6:07
Number four bicycles. If you are banking on a bike this past year, you might have had a tough time finding ones. People stuck at home searched for ways to stay active and get outside. They also wanted alternatives to crowded public transportation, so bikes started rolling off the shelf. Experts aren't sure whether the term will pedal on as the country starts to reopen.
Number five pets. We couldn't be happier about this shortage. Over the last year as some people spent more time at home. They adopted furry friends to keep them company. Shelters all over the country saw record adoption numbers as pandemic puppies and quarantine kitties went to new forever homes. Well, we've had some super strange shortages. Now that the vaccine is rolling out, hopefully these shortages will be shorter. Okay, so how is Saturn going to prepare for their party? They're going to planet. Does that sound like a joke your dad or another dad like figure in your life might say? Well, Ten'ner's, Father's Day is coming up and we want to hear your best dad jokes, or any corny joke that you know to air right here on the show. To submit the ultimate dad joke, grab your adult and give us a call at our new phone line 877-TEN-NEWS and leave us a message that's 877-t-e-n-n-e-w-s or of course you can email us at hello@thetennews.com. Now let's check in on some headlines.
This week marks 100 years since the Tulsa race massacre in 1921. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, as many as 300 black people were killed by white mobs as they destroyed one of the wealthiest black communities in the country known as Black Wall Street. For decades this history was pushed aside. It wasn't mentioned in most schools, or it was referred to as a riot. But the Tulsa race massacre is a very important and shameful piece of history that should not be forgotten. Tennis superstar and the world's highest paid female athlete Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the French Open. Osaka has said that she struggles with her mental health especially with anxiety before media appearances. Because of it, she decided she wouldn't attend any news conferences during the high profile tournament. But talking to the media is part of the job officials say. Her move is brought attention to the issue of athletes and their relationship with the media and how it affects their mental health on and off the court. The United States has a brand new national park. New River Gorge National Park and Preserve in West Virginia joins icons like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone as the 63rd National Park. The New River isn't actually new at all, scientists think it could be up to 320 million years old. And Broadway is about to see the collab of this century, when Britney Spears meets classic fairytales in a new musical set to debut this fall called "Once Upon a One More Time." The play feature is Brittany's music and will kick off the Shakespeare Theatre Company's fall season. Now for your...
Sound Bit 9:58
What, what, what's the big idea?
Bethany Van Delft 10:01
Trivia on The Ten. Pickles, bicycles, and toilet paper may be in short supply, but they've got nothing on Millie, a record holder for the world's shortest dog. But how short is she? Is she A) shorter than a soda can, B) shorter than the length of a chocolate bar or C) shorter than the height of a venti Starbucks cup?
Did you get it? The answer is A, B, and C. Millie's shorter than all of them. The chihuahua stands only 3.8 inches tall. When she was born, she was so tiny that she fit perfectly in a teaspoon, and her owners fed her with an eyedropper. And grown up she was only about as much as a large apple. And even though she doesn't tower her over the other dogs, she went on to do big things, like score Guinness World Record. Good dog Millie. Time is up. But before we go, here's a quick note for the grownups. Thanks for listening to The Ten News. Look out for our new episodes on Tuesdays, Thursdays and extras on Saturdays. You can go deeper into today's stories by visiting thetennews.com. The Ten News is a co-production of Small But Mighty Media and Next Chapter Podcasts and is distributed by iHeartRadio. The Ten News creative team are all stocking up on pickles and includes Kate Hale, Tracey Crooks, Pete Musto, Jenner Pascua, Stephen Tompkins, and Sarah Olender. Pamela Kirkland contributed to this episode. Our production director is Jeremiah Tittle, and our executive producers are Donald Albright and show creator Tracy Leeds Kaplan. I'm Bethany Van Delft and thanks for listening to The Ten News. What's the ocean say to the beach? Nothing. It just waved. You don't have to be a dad to be corny.
