Corn

Written 8th July, 2006:

Those of you who have been reading my blog from the beginning will remember the problems I encountered, a couple of weeks ago, getting hot dog buns. If you haven't been reading me long, you can find back issues in the archives. Since then, things have seemed to settle down in the hot dog bun market and I have been able to keep myself supplied.
Yesterday, as I was on that side of town anyway, I decided to do my pre-weekend shop at the bigger Tesco, on the other side of town. I was running low on many crucial supplies...only two buns left, almost finished my next to the last package of Herta Jumbo hot dogs, into my crisp (potato chip) reserve, only half a package of spaghetti left, only one Cadbury's Fruit and Nut bar left, almost no meat left at all, and completely out of Tesco Value cole slaw. I was also getting low on Tesco frozen "sweetcorn." Here in England, they insist on saying, "sweetcorn," all the time. Back home, in America, people used to just say "corn." It's not like Tesco sells sourcorn, for Pete's sake!
I wound my way through the aisles, working my way down the store, as I usually do. 500 gram size of Tesco Value cole slaw, check. Picked up some Tesco Value stir fry mix. Hot dog buns, maked down because they reached their sell-by date, saving 22 Pence! Herta Jumbo hot dogs, still on sale, buy one get one free, and in stock (during my last shop at my local Tesco, the Hertas were out of stock on the shelves). Tesco spaghetti 1 kilogram, check. Tesco Select crisps, in a twelve pack, check. Things were going swimmingly. I decided to treat myself to a Tesco Appleade, with no sugar added, as I was almost out at home. And the crowning jewel, Tesco frozen sweetcorn...none! Bloody hell! I like to buy Tesco frozen sweetcorn, as it's cheaper than Sainsbury's frozen sweetcorn. It was a Friday and before 6PM. How could they have no sweetcorn in the freezer? Even the ridiculously over-priced Tesco Canadian Sweetcorn, which is always next to the regular, was completely empty. It's their own brand, for Pete's sake, why can't they keep it properly stocked? I wonder what my old friend, market speculator, Victor Niederhoffer, would make of that? I shall have to fall back on my emergency can reserve!