A trip to the city

I went into the city this week. It was the first time in several months I’d gone further than our local stores. My friend in Maine asked me to keep her abreast of what I saw. “Let me know how well stocked your big city stores are,” she wrote. “Our stores are looking really sad.”

Rather to my surprise, things were fairly well stocked everywhere I went. I had my camera and was prepared to take pix of all the bare shelves, but hardly saw any. Granted I didn’t go through every aisle of every store, but nonetheless things seemed decent. 

My city shopping trips entail three major stops: Winco, Costco, and Chef’s Store (a restaurant supply store). I was limited to one bundle of toilet paper at Costco, but I already knew that going in.

At Winco, as I was counting out exact change for my groceries, the cashier was grateful for the coins I gave her. She said they get a limited number of coins delivered each day and that’s it, so they’re always running low. I asked about other supply-chain issues, and she confirmed they’re having trouble ordering lots of their regular stock and are having to get creative with substitutes. Still, all the shelves looked full.

I did notice that the First Street brand of cheese I normally get at Chef’s Store was not available. Instead, it was an off-brand I’d never heard of. Still, there was plenty of it, and it tastes fine.

Also at Chef’s Store, a sign on the produce cooler door put a limit on some items (this was mostly directed at restaurants, which buy large quantities of stuff).

The exception to these well-stocked shelves was fresh veggies. My plan was to get 10 bags of broccoli and dehydrate most of it, but all I could find at Chef’s Store was four bags. I bought all four of them.

Then at Costco, the produce section was conspicuously empty. It was quite a sight to see the room so bare. I’m glad I got those four bags of broccoli since Costco didn’t have any at all.

I also indulged in some late birthday presents for Don: a new pair of headphones (his are shot), and some warm winter gloves.

I know shortages are getting worse. I felt like saluting every trucker I saw, knowing how critical they are to the supply chain. According to Breitbart, “Data from a supply tracking company shows that 18 percent of beverages, 15 percent of frozen foods, 16 percent of snacks, 15 percent of candy and 18 percent of bakery items were out of stock at stores during the week ending on October 3, according to IRI.”

That’s why I was so pleased to find almost everything on my list.