Because our local food ads run Wednesday through Tuesday, I generally go to the grocery store either on Wednesday or Thursday so I can take advantage of the cherry picking before everything is picked over. Which means I traditionally buy my produce once a week and fill in only on an as needed basis. So today I sashayed my tail to 2 of the stores I hit weekly, Sprouts and Aldi. I did not have my list because I left it on the breakfast room table, but I had just written it so I pretty much remembered what I was going for. As it turns out, it didn't matter because there was no blooming produce at either store
I live in Alabama, home of bat size mosquitos and very little snow. By very little snow I mean flurries a couple of times a year, freezing rain about every 5 years and snow that sticks maybe every 7 or so years. Well yesterday our local weather people started rumbling about snow and snow frenzy hit the stores. In fact, before I went grocery shopping I was at Kohl's using my 40 dollar Kohl's bucks right before I went to the grocery stores and I only saw 3 other customers. You know why? Because all those other shoppers were at the grocery store!
I headed across the road from Kohl's to Sprouts. I am one of those weird people who always take a buggy (southernism for cart) from the corral before heading into the store. Dang good thing I did! There were none left in the front of the store because everyone in town was buying like the world was ending tomorrow. I literally was in there to cherry pick the produce so I mentally recalled my list and went straight to the back to snag celery. UH, none! OK then I would just go grab some brussels sprouts, uh none of those either! No problem I would pick up a bag of cuties. OK plenty of those along with some types of potatoes, yellow squash and cukes, but there were no heads or bunches of lettuce left__just a few bags of bagged salad. No carrots, kale, scallions, winter squashes, red onions, beets, turnips. What the hell are all these people doing? Are they afraid our 1 inch or rain/snow mix is going to disable their life?
After my unlucky visit to Sprouts I headed to Aldi. They did have a couple of avocados, celery, mixed greens but no heads of lettuce, zero fruit with the exception of red grapes and a couple of bags of apples. (They also had onions and potatoes but I didn't need those) What can I say?
Now I am not totally pooh-poohing people's reactions. I have lived here forever and I understand if we get freezing rain or heavy wet snow our abundant tree population will have limbs snap causing power outages all over. I have lived through snows where the power was off 6 or 7 days before we got it back (Yep, I live at the tail end of a grid). But I also know you don't bring new food into the house because when that happens you might as well fire up the grill and cook for the entire neighborhood, or commit to throwing pounds and pounds of meats (that are no longer frozen and at best are questionable and at worst rancid) out in the garbage.
I also am shocked at the veggie disappearance. Usually it is bread, milk, peanut butter and cold cuts that fly out of the store. I guess since it is just the 4th and everyone is still on their new diets, or juice phase, or cleansing diets people aren't considering that if they do lose power their blender/juicer/vitamix is not going to work, and those of us who renew our produce regularly on Wed. or Thur. are stuck now buying frozen broccoli and spinach. Thanks a bunch!
So now we get to sit and wait for the storm that will be just to the north of us and we will get nothing, and I will be eating frozen stuff instead of fresh because all you hoarders grabbed, well, everything!
And I will let you in on a little secret. About 3 years ago I bought a generator large enough to keep my freezer and the extra fridge in the laundry room running. We lose power more ofter due to tornados or the after winds of hurricanes than we ever do because of snow, and after a really bad tornado/hurricane season I had to toss the contents of my freezer 3 times. Since I bought the generator we have not been without power longer than twelve hours, so yes, Birmingham, you can thank me and my red gas powered talisman for keeping The 'Ham powered. You're Welcome!
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