Monday , March 18 2024
All the people in the store were complaining about the impending storm and had this look of despair on their faces as if the zombie apocalypse was upon us.

Big Snow’s Coming – Should You Whine or Wine About It?

bliz3

The big storm is coming and everyone is going nuts, at least based on my observation of things happening today here in New York. Just the mention of the word “snow’ sends usually normal people into a frenzy, and everyone is whining about the impending deluge of white powder as if it were one of the seven plagues.

Judging from what I saw in my local supermarket, we are going to be trapped and isolated for the duration like those guys in the Kurt Russell movie The Thing. Here, instead of an alien killing machine, our opponent is the great blizzard of 2016. Man the battle stations!

People were loading up on multiple cases of water, gallons of milk, loaves of bread, vats of butter, and boxes of snacks and cookies. The line at the delicatessen counter wound around the store like the ones I see in Staples the week before school starts, and all the people in the store were complaining about the impending storm and had this look of despair on their faces as if the zombie apocalypse was upon us.

bliz2Realizing that I could not wait on those lines in that store, I went to several other stores only to find the same thing. I then raced over to my local CVS where I happily found the shelves still stocked with items on my list; however, in this venue a long line of people were waiting to purchase snow shovels, ice picks, and rock salt. I wondered, “What happened to their snow shovels from last year?” I bit the bullet and waited on line to get one loaf of bread, a gallon of milk, a dozen eggs, and a pound of butter, hoping all the other people are wrong about this one.

Next stop was the liquor store because in my vast past experience, nothing goes better with the view of falling snow outside the window than a nice glass of wine. Here too people were crowding the aisles pushing shopping carts filled with bottles of vodka, gin, bourbon, and wine. Once again I thought they were preparing for an extended event of some kind. I purchased of few bottles of wine, and mercifully this merchant has a separate line for people buying five bottles or less. Thank you, Mr. Choi.

Finally, I ended up at my local coffee shop to get one last cup of strong Joe before the storm hit. The usual suspects were sitting at the tables, including my old friend Manny. I always like to joke with him, so I asked if he was getting ready for the blizzard, but he was reading the newspaper and glanced up at me from under the brim of his Mets cap with a sly grin, “What blizzard?”

Okay, I know his game and I prod him. “Hey, I hear the Nationals are going to take Cespedes away from us.”

Manny’s face turns all serious and he groans, “You can either whine about the storm or wine about it” as he pointed to two bottles of Chablis in a bag next to his table.

“Yes,” I said nodding, “yes indeed.”

As I was about to leave he yelled, “And Cespedes ain’t going nowhere. He loves New York.”

Ah, Manny, I hope you’re right. Of course, last week he was predicting The Steelers would win the Super Bowl, but that’s another story.

bliz1I am happily home tonight with the wine ready and the fire blazing. The kids are talking about building a snowman tomorrow, and the wife is watching TV. All is well here until when duty calls and the shovel does too. Ah, my aching back!

As for everyone else, take advice from old Manny. You can either whine about the storm or sit back, enjoy it, and have a glass of wine. I am going for the latter, and I suggest you should too.

Happy shoveling!

Photo Credits: victor lana, news12 long island

About Victor Lana

Victor Lana's stories, articles, and poems have been published in literary magazines and online. His new novel, 'Unicorn: A Love Story,' is available as an e-book and in print.

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One comment

  1. Update: Forecast now calls for 12-24 inches of snow across the New York area, and Governor Cuomo has declared a state of emergency.

    Also,Yoenis Cespedes signed a three-year deal with the New York Mets.