For What May Never Come

Dearest Rachel –

A trip to the grocery store after dinner with the folks, while unusual in and of itself (most of the time, we just go home, and Daniel joins Logan in the family room to watch this or that anime that he has already in progress), isn’t entirely unsurprising. Sometimes things need to be picked up, and it’s as good a time as any to do so. It doesn’t hurt that we have coupons to burn at the local superstore, and less time to use them than usual; not that they’re expiring sooner or anything, but we’ll be overseas when they do expire, so we have to use them with enough time beforehand to get the benefit out of whatever we purchase with them. So that’s what we did last night.

I say “we” here, but let’s just acknowledge that while I let Daniel know what I was planning on doing once we left the folks’ place, he really didn’t have a whole lot to do with it. Even his assent was merely perfunctory; he was along for the ride, wherever it was I was going. To be sure, objecting to plans isn’t in his nature (and less so as the years go by), but his reaction was… indifferent. He may have preferred to get home sooner, and spend that hour doing something else, but he could live with the delay.

He did, however, offer a cocked eyebrow when I told him what I was looking for in particular, and why – and no, I don’t think that telling you about it is some passive-aggressive way of defending myself. If nothing else, I’m as willing as anyone to admit that it might have been a frivolous decision from the start; I’m basically preparing for something that may very well won’t happen at all.

It so happened that, of the candy we’d brought to church for the Family Fest, we managed to clear it out, apart from a few dozen small suckers. Almost all of the winning lollipops were selected before we had to close up for the afternoon (although, as usual, there were the returning contestants who, not even content with winning a prize the first time, came back to grab a few more lollies in order to earn a second one, despite the fact that their odds started at ten-to-one; come on, kids, let some of the other nine have a turn!), leaving us with nothing sufficient to take home for tonight’s festivities, should someone come to our door.

Now, I know what you’re thinking; we almost never have anyone come to our door of a Halloween night. And for the most part, that’s true; many a year has left our house completely bereft of visitors. Even on the busiest of nights, I think we considered ourselves fortunate to have maybe five trick-or-treaters come to our door. But I couldn’t help wondering if it wouldn’t be a good idea to prepare, if we did get even one or two. The little suckers are okay – and we could hand out quite a few to each visitor – but they’re hardly a favorite. And after all, we had the coupons to burn, in any event. Best to use them, and be prepared, like a couple of good scouts.

But there was another reason that crossed my mind about making sure to stop and pick up provisions before the end of the month. At the risk of bringing the news into these letters, there’s been some chatter online that things are about to get tense soon. Apparently, with the government shut down as it is (something having to do with the folks in Washington being unable or unwilling to agree on a temporary budget, thereby rendering them legally unable to disburse funds), certain grocery entitlements are about to run out, effective tomorrow. On social media, there are people already advising their viewers to storm their local groceries and superstores and start shoplifting in order to feed themselves. What’s interesting is that most of these folks don’t appear to be starving; but let’s just say I wouldn’t want to get between them and whatever food might be on the other side of me.

Now, it’s quite likely that, in a reasonably affluent suburb such as ours, there’s nothing to worry about. That having been said, I’d concluded that it would be just as well to stock up on a few things before whatever chaos might happen does happen. Hence, this trip to the store; frankly the idea of rioters or looting strikes me as scarier than any Halloween monster, because they’re that much more likely. Zombies, mummies, werewolves and vampires are all just a bunch of mythical creatures; sure, some of them have some real-life basis, like lycanthropy and porphyry, but they’ve been exaggerated beyond all recognition. Mobs of entitled consumers who think they have a right to whatever’s in the store because… reasons? All too realistic a scenario, even if less so where we are. Best to get what we need before then, and stay out of their way until things blow over.

Again, I realize I’m probably preparing for what may never come, but it’s better to be prepared and not need it, than to have to go out in the thick of things, when it may not be safe. Then again, in either case, I might as well ask you to keep an eye on me, honey, and wish me luck, as I’ll be needing it regardless.