storm's a-brewin'

According to various weather reports, a Category 2 or 3 hurricane is supposed to hit sometime tomorrow. Ever the prepared Girl Scout, I decide to head to Sam's. This was my first stop of choice because I have a business membership which has special perks. Business members can shop between 7am-10am, before the store is open to the general public, which is a big plus in my book - not only because I am an early riser but also because it sickens me to go during normal times and see people's carts filled with sugary snacks rather than office supplies. Apparently, due to the storm, Sam's decided to waive the rules and extend these early shopping hour privileges to everyone. I wouldn't care if these people were acting like it is a genuine emergency and stocking up on necessities like, oh, water. But no. It was a bunch of idiots who were buying things like gallon tubs of ice cream and knockoff Banana Republic appliqued tank tops. WTF?!?! Seriously, they should have been turning away people whose carts did not contain batteries, non-perishables, etc. and telling them to come back during regular business hours to get their junk on. It was like these people had waited their whole lives for the opportunity to rush there early and buy a bunch of crap!

After this, I needed a vanilla soy latte to soothe my nerves before I could face the gym. Fortunately, the barista was cute and chatty and remembered me from yesterday so that harmless flirting calmed me down a little. I also called my brother and he laughed with me about Sam's, which made me feel less evil for harshly criticizing the dietary and wardrobe choices of others. Surprisingly the gym was painless and my workout proceeded without incident.

Then I made the mistake of going to the supermarket. It looked like the day before Thanksgiving. The buggy area was empty (which was fine with me, I prefer to use the hand-held basket because it furthers the quest for arm definition) so I should have heeded that as a sign to pop a tranquilizer before venturing forth. But no, like a soldier I pressed on. I quickly wove around the jammed aisles and scooped up what I needed. However, some motherfucker(s) hogged all the good tuna! The only cans left were low sodium and 'in vegetable oil'. I picked up the former (which costs almost $2 a can, by the way) and grumbled about greedy piggies. Then I huffed down to the canned pasta and nearly had a heart attack because my favorite variety was nowhere to be seen. Luckily, I spied some, two shelves lower than normal and pushed off to the side. Was someone trying to create a hidden stockpile in the store??? Or, in their haste to clamor for the shitty kind, did people unintentionally move "mine"? hmmmm. No matter, I had what I needed. Finally, I head up towards the registers. Naturally each is open with a huge line. I stand off to the side of a man with only a few items in his cart so I do not block the aisle, where a constant stream of people are passing by. A few minutes tick by, then this old crone tries to butt between me and the man. As I was eyeing her and opening my mouth to say "sorry, the line starts behind ME, sista" the man who was technically ahead of me said "you go" and winked at me. I love that man. I know we're supposed to respect our elders and odds are she has less time left on this Earth than me, but damn, you are NOT cutting after I've stood here eagerly waiting to escape the fiery pits of hell! I think he observed I was about to get into an altercation with this (and I use the term loosely) lady and acted quickly to defuse the situation. Bless this gentleman for giving up his turn to my impatient, impertinent self and preventing battery on a senior citizen. His kindness restored my faith in humanity. Until I tried to put some gas in my car.

I roll up to my usual gas station (an independent, family run...not very fancy, the pumps are super old and slow, even if I ate processed snacks like Combos I wouldn't buy one from their store because it would probably be stale, but this family works SO hard and their gas is much cheaper than the recognized chains). All the premium gas is gone. I don't know if other people actually consumed it all or whether the owners decided to capitalize on the potential disaster and are planning to price gouge us later, but either way I am irate. So I drive to Texaco. Every pump was occupied. Damn, I just want a little gas so I can drive to my parent's house in case we're forced to evacuate. I'm not filling up spare containers like a crazy survivalist. Well, three times is a charm because the third gas station I pull up to is empty and there appears to be no shortage of premium gas. Ahhhh. Now I'm home, still fuming, but hoping maybe the rain will wash some of people's rudeness away!