Inconsequential Signs of an Impending Apocalypse

[farla]

The grocery store has been bothering me recently.

When we go there, one item or another will be missing, sold out. This isn't a problem to us – the shelves are still filled with other products. But still, when there's a sale, that section is picked clean. The only things in it tend to be a few different items from either side, from buyers digging through in the hopes of finding one more, subtle signs of desperation. This is not a normal thing. Normal would be that when ice cream is on sale, the more popular flavors might be scarce.

They've resized the ice cream, speaking of that, and a few other things, shrinking them and then keeping the same price. I think the problem's on both ends. Everyone, you remember the gaudy text proclaiming items to be X percent bigger (20% free, 30% free, remember that?). It's going the other way now.

Also, the lobsters.

Let me tell you a story that was told to me two or so years back.

A woman saw at a store a huge lobster in the tank. No one would buy it, because who would buy a giant lobster? And the store didn't know what to do with it. The employees had duct-taped its claws because they didn't have rubber bands big enough. So the woman, feeling bad for the lobster, bought it and gave it to an aquarium.

Today, at the store, I saw that it's not just that big lobsters are sold, it's that now the stores have big enough rubber bands.

All of this is nothing, though, so why should I care?

And if the weather this summer is unprecedented, it's okay, because it's not unbearable. If stuff is sold out, that's okay, because it'll be there next week. If the fish section at the store keeps shrinking, that's okay, because we don't buy them so much anyway with their prices now. If gas keeps going up, that's okay, because it'll stop soon, really. If we hear about things happening somewhere else, that's okay, because it's somewhere else. And if things get worse, it's okay, because by then, we've had time to get used to what's happening now.

Rome didn't fall in a day, either.

Comments

[niftysgirl.livejournal.com]

So... what you're saying is, the world's ending and we the people are doing absolutly nothing about it?

That sounds about right, actually. If we don't blow ourselves up in world war three (thanks, Bush! We really needed that!) we're gonna all starve to death or choke to death, because if we're not using up our animal resources (prettys shouldn't die!) we're chopping up all our trees and pouring more chemicals into the air.

Boy, are we in trouble.

[actonthat.livejournal.com]

People aren't serious enough about life in general. All the great empires have fallen; people have this twisted idea that we're all infallible.

[kddreams.livejournal.com]

It's a grocery store. They sell food. And sales = good things, because it's cheaper. Wouldn't you want to cheaper thing?

[niftysgirl.livejournal.com]

I don't think that's what Farla was getting act, exactly. The fact that it's SOLD OUT means something, like... less product or more demand for a product that just isn't growing or something like that. And she also mentioned the fish market thing shrinking, because there are less fish in the sea that are reaching breeding age (as if they don't have *enough* things to dodge, like sharks and whales and dolphins and seals and the like, they also have to deal with humans overfishing and dumping chemicals into the sea!), and the fact that you have to pay more for less... that sort of thing.
Or it could just be a conspiracy, like the length of the lines at the checkout counter. Have you seen them, Farla? They're short when you go into the store, and absurdly long when you move to buy your food.

[farla.livejournal.com]

Not necessarily, Lainy. I did consider that this was normal, but Mom can't remember this happening before, and it's getting almost regular now. People don't necessarily buy the cheapest. There are issues of quality, of personal taste. Or were, because right now, people are going for the cheapest. More worryingly, they're stockpiling what's cheap, which indicates they're not just going for a bargin but can't afford it normally. This shows that people are having trouble affording basic things right now.

This is Not A Good Sign.

[(Anonymous)]

Act, every time you say something it seems like you agree with whatever Farla says even if you don't understand it. Also, whatever else you have to offer is usually non sequitur or vague, sometimes even both.
It was okay for a while, but it's starting to get annoying.

[(Anonymous)]

What happened to Burned? Are you ever going to finish it? If you're not, can you upload the last chapter, because you said you had it. Pleeaaase?

[(Anonymous)]

I know that this will probably never happen but if 50% of the people in the US did this it would probably do one of two things, raise the gas prices, or show that we have had enough.



IT HAS BEEN CALCULATED THAT IF EVERYONE IN THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA DID NOT PURCHASE A DROP OF GASOLINE FOR ONE DAY AND ALL AT THE SAME TIME, THE OIL COMPANIES WOULD CHOKE ON THEIR STOCKPILES.

AT THE SAME TIME IT WOULD HIT THE ENTIRE INDUSTRY WITH A NET LOSS OF OVER 4.6 BILLION DOLLARS WHICH AFFECTS THE BOTTOM LINES OF THE OIL COMPANIES.

THEREFORE SEPTEMBER 1st HAS BEEN FORMALLY DECLARED "STICK IT UP THEIR BEHIND " DAY AND THE PEOPLE OF THESE TWO NATIONS SHOULD NOT BUY A SINGLE DROP OF GASOLINE THAT DAY.

THE ONLY WAY THIS CAN BE DONE IS IF YOU FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN AND AS QUICKLY AS YOU CAN TO GET THE WORD OUT.

WAITING ON THE GOVERNMENT TO STEP IN AND CONTROL THE PRICES IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THE REDUCTION AND CONTROL IN PRICES THAT THE ARAB NATIONS PROMISED TWO WEEKS AGO?

REMEMBER ONE THING, NOT ONLY IS THE PRICE OF GASOLINE GOING UP BUT AT THE SAME TIME AIRLINES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES, TRUCKING COMPANIES ARE FORCED TO RAISE THEIR PRICES WHICH EFFECTS PRICES ON EVERYTHING THAT IS SHIPPED. THINGS LIKE FOOD, CLOTHING, BUILDING MATERIALS, MEDICAL SUPPLIES ETC. WHO PAYS IN THE END?

WE DO!

WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE. IF THEY DON'T GET THE MESSAGE AFTER ONE DAY, WE WILL DO IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.

SO DO YOUR PART AND SPREAD THE WORD. FORWARD THIS EMAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. MARK YOUR CALENDARS AND MAKE SEPTEMBER 1st A DAY THAT THE CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA SAY "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"

[(Anonymous)]

Whoa dude, calm down and stop shouting. Using Caps lock doesn't make you more loud, it just makes your font look garish. It also makes you look like a twelve-year old. Ease up on the capitals.

[farla.livejournal.com]

Burned - well, Burned was only really uploaded because I'd written the opening bit and really liked it. I can't remember if I even intended the opening to be about anything when I first wrote it. So the story itself was really just to justify uploading that.

And no, I don't have the last chapter. I had an idea for how I could end it, but that idea was just because having uploaded it, I needed to have a story and an end, not because it was at all good.

I might reuse parts of Burned in something else, but the story itself isn't an actual story. It's a collection of scenes I got impatient to use and tried to jam together. So no, I don't think I'll ever finish it. Sorry.