Condiments of the House

Fay was such a luxurious storm—water and electric the whole time, but enough rain to go canoeing in our front yard. Best depression I’ve ever had!

Everything in the house was clean—AT ALL TIMES! Standard hurricane preparation is you wash ALL your clothes and all the dishes before the storm. You don’t want to be two days into no power wearing dirty undies and have a dishwasher full of yuck. The shopping goes without saying. Weather veterans know to have supplies on-hand before open season on high winds. Of course I cleaned the bathtub too, I mean who wants to jump into a dirty bathtub and die of germs instead of a tornado?

The one thing you absolutely must must have on-hand is condiments. Running water, electric, phone service, and cable will be restored before you can get ketchup. I guarantee, your state, local, or federal government will ship gasoline to your area before they put a priority on mayonnaise. I am not joking. I’ve seen it. After hurricanes you can go to the grocery store, and yes, you can get water, you can get ice, bread, meat and cheese, but the first thing to be wiped out on the food store shelves is condiments. It’s the first thing everybody throws out of a warmed refrigerator. Fast food joints have to lock up their mustard packets because people steal them from behind the counter. One sauce per customer!