On Friday, February 15, 2013 10:06:44 AM UTC, Kim Bolton wrote:
snip
You should meet my mid-80s mother-in-law.

I don't really know the reason why - it might be
something to do with WWII, but I'm not sure - but she has to have a
'stock' of everything. In the days when she could get out and do her
own shopping, it included having a 'stock' of supermarket plastic
bags. We estimate she had 20,000 of them, before SWMBO threw them
out. She won't eat food in her freezer (because it's her 'stock') so
lives on sandwiches. She's been prescribed a medicated cream for a
skin condition, but won't use it as she doesn't have a 'stock' of
it, so saves it up. No 'stock' item is ever used for anything.

That reminds me of the attitude of storekeepers at some of the places I've worked - I remember a colleague having a stores requisition refused because 'we only have one left and we need to keep it in case someone needs it' - the fact that *he* needed it for an urgent project didn't seem to be sufficient...