The world's gonna end and we're all gonna die...but at least the entire city will have milk and bread when it happens! I don't know how I survived my trip to the local Foodmart this morning, but somehow I made it out alive. Friday mornings are my usual trip to the Foodmart, mind you. It's the delivery day for the particular type of milk we drink from a local dairy and I can't get it at the Stuffmart. This morning I packed up the wee ones immediately after breakfast, just as I do every Friday morning. It did not occur to me that there would be panic among all the residents of the city that would culminate into a scratching clawing fight to get a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread. What, you might ask, is the reason for the city-wide panic attack? Indeed. I asked myself the same question before it occured to me that the weather forecast includes falling temps throughout the day and ultimately a couple days of continued precipitation which is likely to manifest in the form of ice. Ninety percent of the time, mind you, these weather "scares" result in nothing more than damp pavement. Even if the forecast turned into reality, it's no reason to panic!
People from these parts don't know how to handle winter weather. I learned that after I moved to this area and it snowed...like three or four inches, I think. The entire area rolled up the sidewalks and bolted the doors and waited inside for the snow to melt. I kid you not, life literally stopped until the snow melted. It was so bizarre. Now, to be fair, the ice we get in this area can be really dangerous to drive in, and is nothing like the four or five feet of snow I was used to driving in when I lived in Northern Idaho. At least you can plow snow...and drive on it.
But good grief, people! The parking lot at the Foodmart was full (on Friday morning at 9:00 am). I usually only see about three other cars in the parking lot on this day and time of the week. I barely made it in the door and a clerk accosts me with questions about the weather "out there." I assured him it was fine. It was 55 degrees for goodness sakes! There was fear in his eyes as he reported to me that he'd been told it was begnning to get cold further north. I got the feeling I was being admonished to hurry and select my items and run home to hide, lest my unsaved soul be left to deal with the wrath of missing the second coming of Christ (for the record, my soul is saved).
I made it through the throngs of panicked shoppers and calmly selected my items. I was embarassed to be there shopping among the panic strinken throngs, and wanted to announce to everyone that I was only there because it was my USUAL day and time to go shopping for my milk and NOT because I feared the world would end while my refrigerator was empty.
2 comments:
My mother and father-in-law are headed back that way as of two hours ago. They know they are going home to a house without power. They're worried about their pipes freezing and their house flooding. Unfortunately, all that worry won't make the 14 hour drive any shorter!
Back when we lived on the west coast, that was always our experience whenever it threatened to do anything more than drizzle. Flurries? Man the tanks! Chaos.
(Hi! Followed you over from, um, somewhere...)
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