Once again America shows itself as a third-world country re the supply chain.
My favorite drink, Diet Caffeine Free Coke. NOT available! Here's the outrageous and incredible story
It was Saturday and I was running low on Diet Caffeine Free Coke so I decided to go buy some more. I went to my usual closest supermarket, a Safeway subsidiary called vons. They had none on the shelves. OK, that's the new normal. Especially at this vons, which is in Burbank, California and happens to be in the middle of the Los Angeles entertainment business yet it runs out of MANY of my favorite standard food items. OK, I am used to that. I hate it but I am used to it. I drove around the corner to a Smart & Final. They had none either. OK, I started to get annoyed. It's the new normal in my life when it comes to food shopping. I drove over to a CVS in the same mini-mall. CVS often has Diet Caffeine Free Coke, though they charge more than the supermarkets. The CVS had none, out of stock. OK, then, I am a persistent person, do not give up easily and I sometimes make a habit of checking a lot of stores to follow and document the deterioration of my local supply chain in Los Angeles. There was another Smart & Final not far away so I drove there, only to find, you guessed it, no Diet Caffeine Free Coke. Hmm. Like I said, I don't give up easily. And I wanted to see how bad the supply chain shortage was on that day. Next, I went to a Ralph's supermarket. Out of stock. Not one bottle of my beloved Coke on the shelves. That made 5 places that didn't have any. This is not unusual in these, the new and shitty days/years of Covid. The supply chain shortage has now been going on for nearly 3 f-ing years. America was becoming more like Venezuela. With high inflation and supply chain shortages. We were becoming Amerizuela. Anyway, there was a CVS right near the Ralphs. I walked over and, voila, no Diet Caffeine Free Coke. I was running out of local food stores.
Next, and last, I went to a Pavilions, an upscale version of vons. I walked through the store to the soft drink section. At least I was getting a lot of exercise in my quest for my Coca Cola. I carefully scanned the large soft drink section and did not find my Coke. They had many brands and many flavors but not the one I wanted.
OK, I was done shopping. I was going home. Annoyed, disappointed and thirsty. I had gone to 7 food stores. No Coke for me.
On my way home there was another CVS on the street I was driving on. OK, I said to myself, let's make it an even 8 f-ing food stores where they don't have the popular product I wanted. I parked the car and went in, fully expecting to be a victim of the supply chain shortages. Again. I walked over to the soft drink section and, voila, there it was! They had it! They had my Diet Caffeine Free Coke! I bought 2 large bottles, the most I could carry. And happily paid their higher price.
I drove home conflicted. Happy I finally found my usual and highly desired soft drink, unhappy that I had to go to 8 places to find it in stock. Welcome to the new economy and its shortages of way too many things people want and need. It sucks.