November 21, 2007

I Kid You Not

I've taken to carrying my camera pretty much everywhere, in part because of my work here in the blogosphere (and I use the term work oh-so-lightly), and because of my experiences of capturing shots I'm grateful for where I would never have predicted there would be any worth taking.

I did leave my camera at home this morning, though, because I was just going to the local Wegman's (in my family everyone says "Weggies") for a few yams, a jar of mincemeat, an onion, and some milk.

I really wish I'd had my camera.

Instead, I'll have to try to describe the scene at the back of the store in words... the refrigerator case between the section marked "Eggs" and the section marked "Yogurt," clearly marked "Butter," but mostly sporting a gaping whole surrounded by ragged clumps of margarine wanna bes. Shoppers hovered in disbelief, sounding Clintonesque (he, not she) in their willingness to stretch the meaning of the word, "out."

"When you say you're 'out' of butter, do you mean that you just haven't put it all out yet, or do you actually mean that you're 'out out," asked one woman. Her voice may have quavered.

A hapless errand-runner frantically reached for his cell phone, "Sweetie," he jammed his finger in his other ear the better to hear, "Yes, I'm here, but there's no butter. Yes, I know you have to bake. Well, there is some Parkay. Should I get that? Sweetie?"

There was no butter to be had. Even the people whose lists didn't include butter slowed down to gawk... it's the first time I've ever seen rubbernecking in a supermarket. Luckily I always stock some in my freezer. Guess I could take a picture of that, but it wouldn't be the same.

Have a happy!

(Day 21 of NaBloPoMo.)

2 comments:

Stacy said...

Golly. I always knew that my freezer stock of butter was a good idea. One can only imagine the chaos.

My Weggies had butter......and one man saying to his wife on the other end of his cell phone, "This is it. I'm not coming out again."

Nancy Bea Miller said...

I think we are secretly related. Or at least, you are somehow kin to my husband the butter hoarder. Anytime there's a sale he comes home with a bag full and into the freezer it goes. I'd have been happy to share with those butter deprived folks...we have way too much.