Laden...
Products, products everywhere, but not the exact type of iced tea I wanted. Darn that supply chain!
Good morning, New Jersey.
I'm standing at the long wall of drink coolers at my local Wawa, feeling irrationally annoyed. At least two dozen kinds of juices, teas, lemonades and fruit-flavored drinks in an improbably tinted rainbow of flavors sit in their chilly cabinets, waiting to be selected.
Except the one I want. It's the kind I like so much I have to limit myself to a few of those two-fer deals each week. The flavor I like so much it gives me an excuse to leave my house and nip off to Wawa for a break during long work-at-home days.
There's a little sticky sign on the door of the cooler warning that because of "supply chain issues," some flavors -- like my Diet Half-and-Half iced tea/lemonade -- may be unavailable. I'll be forced to choose from among the other half-dozen types of iced tea staring at me. Like I said, irrationally annoying.
And thus, the global supply chain issue hits home. A few weeks ago, I'm fearing grim death from COVID, but now I'm cranky about cold beverages. I've heard tell that some Wawas are having trouble keeping all of the ingredients of a Gobbler in stock at the same time.
The Wall Street Journal put together a beautiful story about the journey of a bottle of Scotch from the distillery in Scotland to retail stores here in the U.S. Supply-chain issues make the manufacturing and shipping take longer and cost a lot more, but I can't get myself too worked up about a Thanksgiving table missing a bottle of pricey imported booze.
Maybe we're using the wrong examples. Some situations with actual consequence are tied in to the supply chain: School lunch menus in Hudson County were an issue when some offerings weren't available. But you'll hear a lot more about how your Peloton might not arrive in time for that Christmas morning ride.
Some of this is just good ol' fashioned marketing: A quick search of the phrase "turkey shortage" on NJ.com shows headlines from 2011, 2013, 2014 and 2015 with folks worrying over being possibly bereft of birds. Luckily, the folks from Butterball always have a press release, reassuring the public they have plenty of turkeys for your table. Rob Jennings talked to the owner of a local turkey farm, who noted that whispers of a possible shortage actually led many customers to order extra early.
For two weeks, cranberry sauce was a major topic of conversation in my house after a TV news segment suggested Thanksgiving staples like canned cranberries could be in short supply. Everyone was under orders to grab some if they saw it at the store.
Cut to today and there are six cans of jellied cranberries in my pantry, and the state's cranberry growers assure us their bumper crop this year will be plenty to cover the holidays. I'm not even cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year!
Clearly, there's nothing in the supply chain "crisis" so far that feels like a crisis to me, just an everyday annoyance. How about you? If you're finding shortages of real necessities -- or even just your favorite kind of iced tea -- send me an email.
Also this week, the thirstiest man in New Jersey, we're still doing Diana dirty, a peek at the lunar eclipse, more trouble for Wall High, and frickin' monkeypox: CHRIS CHRISTIE IS THIRSTY: The guy Jersey loves to hate is everywhere right now, flogging his new book and continuing his public "feud" with the former president. More than three dozen media appearances later, has anyone read the book?
A 'DIANA' DUD: Kristin Stewart is getting raves for inhabiting the role of the late People's Princess in "Spencer," but our Jacqueline Cutler reports the new "Diana, The Musical," looks much less promising. Like, campy-in-a-bad-way. That wig borders on a hate crime.
LUNACY: In case you weren't up early or late enough to see the "blood moon" partial lunar eclipse this week, these pics from our Tim Hawk will give you an eyeful. And look for a pair of lunar eclipses in 2022.
BULLIES NEVER WIN: Last week we talked about the allegations of hazing inside Wall High School's football program. This week, current and former students, parents, and others told the school board about a culture of bullying and violence going back decades. LIKE WE NEEDED THIS: Something new to add to the "list of potential catastrophes" in your middle-of-the-night anxiety spiral: Frickin' monkeypox, now? The CDC has confirmed the second case of the rare, but potentially serious, illness this year -- thankfully, not in Jersey.
Finally, the story of Justine Gross, the 19-year-old from Summit who died at Penn State after falling down an 11-story trash chute, is weighing on my mind. State College police quickly called the death an accident and claimed they weren't releasing details about the case at the family's request.
That was a lie. Francoise Gross, Justine's mother, talked to our Richard Cowen this week and made clear that she doesn't believe the too-easy explanation that her daughter had a bad reaction to some weed. The mother points to a text from her daughter to a friend hinting at danger and says the local cops aren't interested in the case.
“They just want to move on,” Francoise Gross said. Read Rich's piece and tell me what you think. Is there more to this story?
P.S.: The "Tiger Lady," the nickname given to a young woman whose body was found in the woods near the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border back in 1991, has a name. Rest in peace, Wendy Louise Baker.
Amy Z. Quinn Audience Editor
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Laden...
Laden...
