Its my fault

It’s my fault

I am absolutely blessed. I was born to smart parents. Grew up with a brilliant older brother. Lived in a neighborhood full of educated smart people who had smart kids. Nuclear families. Got a first rate – albeit segregated – primary and secondary education. Went to the University of Georgia where every day was a challenge, forcing me to try to excel in every aspect of campus life. Go to Ohio State and work under the world’s foremost monetary economist. Have a career that I could not imagine being around smart people doing smart things. Have great friends from all walks of life with all levels of education but having one thing in common – they are all smart. So what is there not to like?

Well, have you ever had a favorite item be discontinued? It’s my fault. I have come to the conclusion that the stores monitor my purchases and then discontinue the things that I most often buy. To that end I have stopped using merchant specific credit cards – except for Sam’s because of Sam’s cash and Kroger’s for the coupons. But Sam’s did stop carrying my favorite jelly beans, protein bars, bottled tea, tea bags and chicken broth. There are probably some others as well. When Walmart had its own card, they discontinued my favorite salsa, hot sauce, trail mix and mustards. Kroger stopped carrying the chocolate clusters, type of frozen vegetable, yogurt, organic cereal and ice cream flavor that I like. Ingles stopped the type of eggs, hot sauce (again), cow bones for my dog and frozen bread that I use for pizza crust. Publix no longer carries another hot sauce (yes I like hot sauces), yogurt, BBQ sauce and marinade. Publix said that they had in stock my favorite Publix brand ice cream (chocolate trinity). When I couldn’t find it, I had the manager look for it. He said “I will find it for you.” It was in Sarasota. One day when I was at the checkout, I saw the cereal I buy in the clearance section – naturally. Costco stopped carrying the cereal and the granola I always buy. They stopped the pimento cheese I liked for a couple of years. If they discontinue their salsa and coastal cheddar cheese I would have no reason ever to go back to their store. BTW, why all the crowds? Are they giving away liquor and drugs? I don’t get it. They, too quit stocking the bottled and packaged teas I buy. Highland brewery of Asheville made my favorite stout. Not only did it disappear from the store where I bought it, it vanished from all of East Tennessee. I send my deepest regrets to all those stout lovers out there. It’s all my fault. Yee Haw brewery found out that I liked their imperial Scottish ale and stopped brewing it.

Then there are the items that are out of stock. Even on the internet the same things happen. I bought 3 dozen of my favorite mustard a year or so ago because I knew it would disappear and lo and behold when I ran out and tried to reorder, it was gone (out of stock and we do not know when it will be back in stock. We will let you know). Even when I go to ebay and miraculously find a favorite product, it too is out of stock. I placed an order once when it said there were 30 in stock. When it was slow in coming I sent a query and was told that it was no longer available and that I would get a refund. Last couple of months I have gotten three refunds from my American Express card and one from ebay. So if you buy the same things that I do and they suddenly are no longer available, its my fault. 

I love jigsaw puzzles and mine invariably are missing a piece. So if yours also is missing a piece, it is probably the same one that I bought. My daughter also loves puzzles but her’s are never missing a piece. For Christmas she gave me the perfect present, a puzzle full of dogs of various breeds showing much angst while watching a Georgia football game. She wrote “This is exactly how I feel when watching Georgia play.” When I finished the puzzle, it had a piece missing.  

Even in Gray, GA site of the family farm, there are only 4 sit down restaurants that are not fast food. There used to be six. One had great catfish where we would go every Friday. The other was a pizza place with the absolute best calzones ever. Both lasted through Covid but couldn’t last through me and both are now out of business. I apologize to all their former patrons. It’s my fault.

A sporting goods store ran an ad for a rifle/scope combination I wanted at a substantial discount. When I got to the store I was told that they had just sold the last one. Naturally. When a patron came up behind me and wanted the same gun, he was told it was no longer in stock. I apologized to him saying it was my fault. 

If I like a particular store and it is a chain, they will announce it is closing a few stores. Why is that store always the one I go to? There is a famous used book store in Knoxville with stores in Nashville, Chattanooga and Asheville. Only the Knoxville store is closing. Also why is it that anytime anything goes wrong, the repairman always says “I have been doing this for 30 years, and I have never seen this happen”? I am so used to it that when the other day, I was told that something was an easy fix, I was convinced he was lying. He was. Turns out it wasn’t so easy after all. Sometimes I feel like Joe Btfsplk, the cartoon character in Lil Abner who always had the cloud over his head being rained on while others enjoyed the sunshine or Charlie Brown who seemed to attract rain at the most inopportune times. But not to worry. This just simply makes life a bit more interesting. As a public service I will no longer reveal my preferences to retailers. But just keep in mind when some product you like disappears, it’s my fault.