The shape of things to come?

[valarltd]

I had a mini-meltdown in Wal-Mart last night.

We had gone in for tea and peppermints and a few other things. There was not a bag of peppermints to be had. The Brachs were stripped. The Best Choice were gone.

I know it was 9:30 on a Sunday and the trucks hadn't come in yet. But I started looking and seeing other empty shelves. Places where a whole product was missing and hadn't been restocked.
Wal-Mart had 15 ocean-going containers in their parking lot. Why the hell don't they have peppermints?

I've been noticing this more and more. Wal-Mart is OUT of things. This is not supposed to happen. It makes my world feel insecure. And sometimes Kroger and Walgreens and Big Star and Save A Lot are out too. There are times when the (very common) item I want is not to be had in my town.

This is only going to become more common. There's a drought this year. There will be famines. Not so much here, except for rising food prices, but elsewhere. And unless we get agriculture and our lives under control, it will touch us.

But that is not our way. We drive the car off the cliff first and fasten our seatbelt after.

You read it here: I'm predicting food riots in ten years.

Please feel free to laugh at me and call me a nervous nelly in 2025. I'd rather that than be right.

Is it pre-election jitters?
Is it pre-cog I can't control?
Is it just a lot of free-floating angst about my kids' future?
Is it incipient depression?
I don't know. I'll keep writing my stories and making my crafts until my arthritic fingers can take no more. Then I'll dictate them.

Comments

[m-barnette.livejournal.com]

You can solidly lay the blame for some of this on fuel costs. Fact: There are fewer resupply runs being made across the board to all stores.

Walmart used to keep their back room well stocked so shelves could be refilled. Except for certain items--toys at Xmas for instance--what's out on the floor is pretty much what the store has these days.

One major national disaster shows how the system breaks down--Sandy, Katrina anyone? Though Obama does get marks for handling things far better than Bush, he still has no control over supply and demand at the consumer level. Something bigger would leave this country in a true mess. New Madrid could go at any second which would totally cripple our nation.

Do I think you're right? Yes, and no. Most people will sit by and stare at their tv or computer and wonder what happened like the sheep they've been trained to be. Others will be out screaming their heads off.

Guess which category I fall into.