After spending the bulk of the day whining about my empty refrigerator, I went to the grocery story this evening. I filled my cart with the requisite bread, milk, cereal, and assorted other things--yes, there may have been chocolate in there too--before rounding the dairy aisle to grab yogurt and cheese. That's when I saw it...the cottage cheese aisle. I brought my cart to a screeching halt and stared, open mouthed at the bare shelf in front of me.
Every other shelf in the section was filled to the brim. Fresh yogurt galore, more dip than you could shake a chip at, enough ricotta to stuff every shell in the joint, and so much sour cream I had a bad taste in my mouth, but only three tubs of cottage cheese. Three. The entire store had been cleaned out of cottage cheese. As if some sort of strange apocalypse was approaching and they were expecting a cottage cheese shortage. A blight. The great cottage cheese blight of 2013. Why, this could be almost as bad as the run on the banks back in '29!
I watched over my shoulder as I grabbed all three tubs, convinced someone would jump out at me, demanding me to share. Luckily, I got out of the aisle without a fight, but not without checking the expiration dates (and I'm happy to report there was plenty of freshness left).
I asked the cashier if she had any clue what would cause a run on cottage cheese on the last Friday night in May, in the Blue Ridge mountains, but she was as clueless as me. At least I managed to get what I needed. Someone was going home tonight without. And that will be a sad someone, I have no doubt.
Until the next time...I'll be eating my cottage cheese with a smile.