The Shopping List

 I have had the the same four items on my shopping list for the last two weeks. 

• Toilet paper (and kitchen towel)
• Kewpie Mayonnaise
• Celery sticks
• Tea Tree Oil

For the last two weeks, each time I've passed by the supermarket these items have not been on the shelves. It's annoying - and quite disturbing how priveleged we've become. It's also strange to see what is left on the shelves and what is missing. 

Of the list, only the bog roll was getting to be on the urgent side of things. Last weekend I gained a spare roll from Blarney to tide me over until I could get more. I've also been a bit pissed off because I can't find MY loo paper - the unbleached, recycled eco stuff that sometimes has green frogs on it. I don't like the shiny white, bleached, triple ply stuff. The bleach makes my bits sting. No thank you. 

So tonight, getting to the end of my tether, wondering if I'd have to move a tissue box into the toilet, I went online to WhoGivesaCrap.org and bought 24 rolls. I'll find a place for some of them in the spare room. I wont have to buy loo paper for the rest of the year. And my conscience is clear because it's recycled. I also found 12 generic rolls at the shop tonight - as there is a good chance this other lot won't turn up for two weeks or so. 

The Kewpie mayo is something that always appears to be in stock in other times, but these pandemic times be strange. Maybe everybody is getting into poke bowls and sushi. Regardless, the local Coles has been out of it for weeks. I found some there tonight. I bought two bottles if it. I love me some poke bowls. 

Celery sticks is another thing I wish I could get. The pandemic appears to have got Coles processing plant out of whack. I don't want a whole head of celery. I just want a few sticks so I can have them for afternoon tea with a little bit of peanut paste (peanut butter). I like the pre-cut packs. But they haven't been around for weeks. Yes, I could cut my own from a head of celery, but I don't want that much. It all gets horrid and I end out chucking it out, and I hate food waste. 

And the tea tree oil? Good for ingrown toenails. Again - none on the shelves. 

It's all seemingly random what you can and can't find at the moment. Looking at this list, I know it reeks of a first world problem. Like what did people do for loo paper before loo paper was invented. 

Hmm. 

Today's song: