I have a complaint. I know, right?

No, not a minor irritation. And no, I’m not just “annoyed”. I have an actual complaint, and I want answers.

As most of you may know, I do enjoy going to the grocery store. My store of choice is the Milton Food Lion.  It’s about ¼ mile away and they open at 7:00am.  A 6:00am open would be better, though I prefer 24 hours.

I know where items are and the selection is good.  Produce is fresh, meat is good quality and seafood dept seems good. Staff friendly and pleasant.

BUT – I do have a complaint. This complaint is not about the actual store, but something that happens IN the store.

I get 2 main things there that I can only get at a Food Lion. They are Food Lion Brand and the “name brands” on these 2 items, in my opinion, are not as good.

The 1 item is normally in stock, it’s rare the case is empty. It has happened, but rare. When it is out of stock, I get the name brand and I move on and wait until the shelf is stocked. 

The item is Food Lion French Vanilla Coffee Creamer.  When this item is out, I can use “International Delight” or “Nestle”.  These are okay, but a little higher in price and not as good as the store brand.

               *Side Note 1 – a splash of that and 1 splenda in my Swell Joe Berry Much Coffee and you have one swell cup of joe. 

*Side Note 2 – Visit http://www.swelljoecoffee.com and tell them Jim sent you

But the 2nd item – well, that’s a different situation. It’s almost always out of stock. There are several varieties of this item and there are always plenty of THEM on the shelf. But this one item is almost always out.

My family knows that I like this one item and are aware that they are out often, they hear me talk about it when it occurs.  An no, my loving family never gets tired of me telling them they are out of ________  _________  __________  ___________  (4 words)

And yes, I have actually made seperate trips to other Food Lion’s in other towns/cities to look for this 1 specific item.

I’ve never asked The Lion about it, it’s not their fault if there is a supply chain issue.

But it still irritates me.

Then, one day last week – BAMMMMM!!!!

Charlotte and I were at The Lion and we saw it!!! A guy was walking down an aisle with his basket full of that 1 item.  I didn’t notice it at first until Charlotte said, “Wow, he must really like that ________”.

So, what am I to think?

– Is this a conspiracy? Have my wife and/or daughters conspired with this guy to buy up all of this item?

– Does this guy have some inside information? Does someone call him to tell him the shelf is full?

– Does this guy go to “The Lion” more than I do? That is highly doubtful. Seriously, I go just about once a day (I’ve already been there twice today). I think my record is 5 times in one day.

– Does this guy buy them to sell them out of the back of his white van for a profit?

– Does this guy know who am and the product I am after? Is he mocking me? Have I wronged him and this is his vengence?

Or, is it possible…… Does this guy buy them because sometimes I will get that item and get the last ones. Is it possible that he too is questioning who this other guy is (me being the other guy) that is purchasing this item? Nah……

I don’t know the answer.  Perhaps it’s something else.  Perhaps this person is just an innocent regular guy and if asked, he’s share his bounty of the _______ ________  ________  _______ (again, 4 words)

But I’m going to have to up my game.  I have the determination.  Oh yeah, I also have a craving for the _______ __________ ___________ __________ (4 words)

I am not willing to state what the item is.  This item is already hard to secure.  If I mention what the item is, then you’ll want to try it, you’ll like it, and then YOU will trying to get this item, and there already isn’t enough to go around. Were I to tell you this product, there’d be a run that would make the Stock Market Crash of 1929 pale in comparison. People would be trampled and this product would be reduced to sale on the black market – who knows, it might become the new currency.

I will not be defeated. This guy doesn’t know who he’s messing with. 

               *Side Note 3 – okay, truth be told, this guy doesn’t even know anything about this.

Game on my friend, game on.

Challenge accepted.

• That Guy