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<\/a>Well, by now I’m assuming everyone has not only heard about the food shortages and supply line\u00a0<\/strong>problems <\/b>but has experienced them first-hand.\u00a0 We’ve seen empty shelves since the pandemic started, but I sensed it was easing a bit until a few weeks ago.\u00a0 Now, once again, going to the grocery store has all the certainty of placing a bet on the crap table.<\/strong>\u00a0 Pundits on TV have blamed the war in Ukraine, but it seems to have started long before that.\u00a0 This morning when I perused the pasta aisle I was met with a lot of blank space.\u00a0 I grabbed the last bag of sweet potato fries and cinnamon graham crackers from their respective shelves.\u00a0 I secretly applauded myself as if I had won the lottery.\u00a0 But still, I haven’t been able to get the sugar-free wafer cookies<\/strong> that my husband loves in almost a year.\u00a0 I think they are imported from Canada so I’m sure there is a customs problem at the border.\u00a0 Too bad they don’t come from Mexico so they could sail right through.<\/p>\nI’ve heard that we’re in for even more food shortages this summer<\/strong>.\u00a0 What’s more, because fertilizer may be in short supply, they are going to spray manure on the crops, including potatoes.\u00a0 Perhaps I need to tell my husband that, thus reducing his desire<\/strong> for the chips.\u00a0 And, unfortunately, me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Suzanne Sparrow Watson Well, by now I’m assuming everyone has not only heard about the food shortages and supply line\u00a0problems but has experienced them first-hand.\u00a0 We’ve seen empty shelves since the pandemic started, but I sensed it was easing … read more![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/baked-lays-300x300.png\")
<\/a>In any event, the other item that has been very hit and I miss are Lay’s Baked potato chips.<\/strong> They are the brand that my husband’s cardiologist recommends (well, to the extent he recommends potato chips at all) but they have been impossible to find.\u00a0 Obviously, I scour the shelves at our local Safeway once or twice a week, but I’ve been skunked at all of the other local markets as well. I’ve tried Target and CVS pharmacy – no dice.\u00a0 Finally, last week I was in Walgreen’s when the Lay’s rep had just been there.\u00a0 There were four bags on the shelf.\u00a0<\/strong> I furtively looked around, hoping no one was watching, and put all four bags in my cart.\u00a0 I normally would never take the last of something.\u00a0 Our mother always taught us that you never take the last cookie or the last piece of cake.\u00a0 Advice which seems ridiculous.\u00a0 Of course we wanted the last piece of cake! She never said, “Don’t take that last Brussel’s sprout!”.\u00a0 Upon reflection, I realize that there was never just one sprout left.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/old-people-and-potato-chips-300x169.jpg\")
<\/a>Anyway, as I walked around Walgreen’s picking up the rest of my necessities, I ran through what excuses I might offer the check-out guy<\/strong> as to why I was depleting their entire stock of Baked Lays.\u00a0 A graduation party?\u00a0 Or, more appropriate for my age, a celebration of life? In the end, I just put my goods on the counter and proceeded to check out.\u00a0 I didn’t look the check-out guy in the eye, lest he pose the dreaded “why?” question.\u00a0 I felt guilty as I drove home, certain that a seven-year-old somewhere is Scottsdale was going to be deprived of potato chips in his lunch pail<\/strong>.\u00a0 But when I walked in the house with my ill-gotten gains my greediness was rewarded.\u00a0 My husband looked at me like I was Olivia Newton-John (his girl crush).\u00a0 I can’t remember the last time he looked at me that way.<\/p>\n