On my way home from the store, I saddled up my horse…

High horse, that is.

So strap in for my tiny rant…

After yoga tonight, Mr. G called and asked if I would stop by the store and pick up some granola (don’t hate me K & Cath for not making it ) and some goat’s milk.  ::shudders, sticking tongue out::  I said that I was going anyhow and I would gladly do that…

We have no stoplights in a 5 mile radius, making travel times a lot less pleasant and causing drivers to act like maniacs.  Don’t they teach people the rules of a stoplight that is out?  Pretend it’s a 4 way stop PEOPLE…okay, so maybe it’s a 4 way stop with 6 lanes of traffic…but let the big ass dooley go and then go with him.

The nice thing is that we have had power in the grocery stores on our side of town for a few days…and my friend’s husband, who works for Sysco, assured me that they would have milk, eggs and meats in the stores now.  So I zoomed along and stopped at the grocery story - noticing that my corner gas station had finally unboarded it’s windows and resumed gas service.

The store was filled with your normal amount of people - cruising the aisles, after dinner.  Everything seemed good until…I got to the breads - they had just a few loaves and they looked like they had been crushed.  So I grabbed one and headed for the cheese/dairy.

Along the way, I passed the meats department…sad state of affairs I might say…luckily we don’t partake of that much, so it’s not a big deal, but I was thinking about how hard that must be for the Hamburger Helper mom or the Sloppy Joe Dad - just a few ol’ packs of ground beef and that was it…

Then I got to the dairy section…did my eyes deceive me?  The only thing they had in the coolers, was half & half and Soy Milk…not just your normal store brand soy, but the Horizon Organics at $7.99 a gallon (reminds me of Noble Pig’s Fancy Milk post the other day…) and this made me chuckle.  We normally drink two milks in this house - me - almond or rice milk and Mr. G. - goat’s milk.  Nada…nothing…zilch.  So I opted for the soymilk to go with our granola…and then I turned left down the butter/eggs/yogurt/freezer aisle…WOW.

Absolutely NOTHING in the shelves…margarine, sure.  Some yogurt, sure…but frozen foods was a completely wiped out.  I have never seen anything like that…I would’ve taken pics but I had just come from the gym and was empty handed…

I perused the aisle, out of curiousity - we usually only grab frozen veg - I couldn’t believe it but the only thing I saw was some Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast…and some nasty bag of chicken chunks, that I’m sure are not made of chicken at all…BLECK.

I asked the clerk had it been like this long…he said that one week ago Wednesday…the store was nearly empty….they had one more shipment right before the storm hit - then GONE…and a very limited shipment on Sunday, late…letting only 2-3 people into the store at a time…gone…

So…my rant you ask?  And I have taken it upon myself to be an advocate RANTER about this just because.  We have power…we have food…we don’t have cranky hot kids to worry about…we are both back to work…we have access to our money in the bank…we have nothing to complain about.

If you think you’re life is rough…’cos you didn’t get to do this or do that…why don’t YOU stop and take a look around and look at those that are less fortunate or having a hardship, show some compassion - you may never know when, you may find yourself without your creature comforts of nipping down to the local market ‘cos you ran out of fresh produce or bread.  I have heard from and seen this from my friends and neighbors:
-a girlfriend who lost her car in the storm and just moved to another side of town, and it turns out that her old ‘hood actually had NO damage

-another girlfriend who’s wedding (200 person - formal affair) is in Galveston in 8 weeks - they haven’t even given the GREEN light on resident’s to come back - the stress that she must feel (although I did see today that the hotel will be up and running by October 15th - say YAY for that)

-a family who’s roof ripped off right over the heads and are now practically homeless and can’t get the help they need ‘cos of the bottleneck called FEMA (after Katrina)

-a friend who lost their cat in the storm…haven’t found ‘em yet.

-a friend who had almost 5 feet of water running through their living room…destroying everything that they own

-friends with kids, in absolute stifling heat and no water or power…LOTS O’ BOARD GAMES…enough to make the parents want to rip their hair out

-And a story that my mom relayed to me about the rushing surge/tide just before the storm…a couple were so scared, they put life vests on both of their kids and wrote their social security numbers on them just in case they got swept away (IMAGINE HAVING TO DO THAT???)

And so many more…so if that guy in front of you cuts you off to get to the light faster than you, breathe.  That is the least of your worries…Remember life ain’t all bad.   And one more thing, be sure to stock up on canned goods…you never know when you might need to resort to them!

coming soon - our photos from Ike…