Sunday, March 27, 2022

Scarcity

From the outside, the grocery store looked very appealing. "Fine Food and Pharmacy" read the banner, and smaller signs touted "Local Seafood" "Butcher" "Family-owned" "Chef-inspired Menus" "Ethically-sourced coffee". Since we just needed a few things for dinner, we decided to stop instead of driving the extra miles to the big new chain grocery down the road.

When the sliding glass doors whooshed open, the produce and prepared food department were literally deserted. In the hot food and deli section, all the cases and steam tables were empty and the lights were turned off. Many of the bins and baskets were empty in produce, too, but for single bunches of shriveled parsley and yellowed broccoli crowns. There were zero lemons and limes, so we moved slowly into the store to check out the meat and seafood. Those counters, too, were closed and their cases empty. A few wrapped trays of meat and fish were in the refrigerated cases, but the selection was not wide. We found some beef tenderloin on sale and a few frozen lamb chops, though.

This scene repeated itself as we rolled our cart up and down the aisles. Perhaps 30 percent of the shelves were stocked: no bread, but they had slider rolls, no rice, but they had arborio rice, no french fries, but they had tater tots, and no milk, but they had chocolate almond milk. 

In this way, we were able to check off most of the items on our list, but as we did so we saw, maybe? Four other shoppers and not a single employee until we went to the self-check, which was the only cash-out open. 

I am not a chatty person by any means, but beyond the expected pleasantries, I just had to ask, "How come your grocery store doesn't have any food?"

"Trucks not comin'," she answered tersely and did not speak to me again until I passed her with my bag. "Have a wonderful day," she said mechanically as the exit doors slid open and we left the store, wondering what in the world was happening back there.

3 comments:

  1. You invited me in with the description, and then the twist of the items in the grocery store (at first, I thought you were going to enter about how great it was). The emptiness was worrisome -- where are the trucks? What does that mean? I am intrigued.

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  2. Oof, this is a sad scene, indeed. Imagine the promise they felt when those signs were made. Let's hope the trucks come packed with food and hope for tomorrow.

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  3. Whoa, this is a vivid setting. I’m sorry for those for whom this is a daily reality. I kept seeing scenes from Station 11.

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