It's actually easy to forget that you (or pretend you don't, as the case may be) live in Hooterville, hundreds of miles from civilization.
Especially if, like me, you rarely go outside.
Unless, of course, you go to the supermarket on Tuesday.
Wednesday is the day most of the stores get their weekly deliveries, so Tuesday is the day when everything starts to...run out.
I've never lived anywhere where things ran out! I come from the Big City where the stores are stocked (and open) 24/7. It was hard enough adapting to the limited hours and even more limited selection. And now they're going to run out of even that? What kind of Banana Republic is this?
In all the years I lived in LA, the only time I ever saw empty shelves was during the '92 riots. The city was in flames, people looting in the streets and the city went on lock-down with a dusk to dawn curfew. I lived in West Hollywood at the time and the local Pavilions was stripped bare of all the essentials for survival.... Pellegrino, artisan bread, imported cheese. Even fresh cut flowers, because nothing brightens a civil insurrection like a little pop of color. I remember you couldn't find paté for days. It was awful.
The first time I encountered the shortages here was one of the first Tuesdays we lived here. As I entered the store you could tell things were a little off. It's not like the store had been looted or anything, but there were definitely bare shelves and empty freezers. First, I noticed there was almost no dog food. And then milk. But the final straw for me came with the peanut butter... there was none. I had been craving peanut butter and there simply wasn't any. Oh sure, they had chunky, but... please.
I was obviously taken somewhat aback and a nearby clerk helpfully schooled me.
"Come back on Thursday once we've had a chance to stock up. The trucks all come tomorrow."
Oh, so trucks is it? I had imagined C40 cargo planes swooping low over the vacant lots behind the store, air dropping pallets of Cap'n Crunch to us starving villagers below.
At any rate, I forgot my own advice and went to the market yesterday and was reminded just how backwards my life is these days.
But this time, they at least had peanut butter.
