Forget water. I recently stocked up on alcohol.
I figure if I get quarantined with my family, I need more than water to help me survive.
I recently purchased two bottles of Crown Peach…which may be Very Important Currency if I need to trade for toilet paper. I also purchased some “Cheap Ass Beer” (manufactured in Minnesota) for my husband, as well as cucumber vodka for $10.99 (I may never drink it, but I saved $15!) and Hy Vee’s “customer choice” Amsterdam coconut vodka. (Impulse buy.)
In all honesty, I tend to go a little bonkers in the liquor store. I have BOTTLES of alcohol that sit unopened on a shelf in our basement. (That is because I drink leftover $4 Aldi’s Christmas wine, and my husband drinks “Cheap Ass Beer.”) We rarely make mixed drinks at home, because that’s what Iowa Roadie adventures are for. It’s far more fun to sit at the bar and make new friends…or at least hang out with people who pretend to tolerate us.
Now, however, there is a PANDEMIC going around. Hand sanitizer is the equivalent of the Tickle Me Elmo doll in the late 90’s. Everyone HAD to have it, but no one could find it. Now people have reduced themselves to hoarding essential hygiene supplies.
Quick Iowa Roadie rant and public service announcement… Hoarding is NOT cool. There are people that truly need these things. Even with the shelter-at-home orders some states have imposed, you can still go to the grocery store. Please resume your normal shopping habits, and share with your neighbors.
(PS…Hoarding does NOT include the large collection of primitive “treasures” that I have amassed that may or may not be taking up our attic. Somewhere rust and chippy paint is fashionable.)
However what disheartens me the most about our current situation is how our local bars are suffering. Alcohol is not nearly as enjoyable when plopped on my living room couch watching Shark Tank reruns with the Iowa Roadie’s husband as my only company.
I recently reached out to bar owners and asked them to share their thoughts about the mandated closure of bars and restaurants. I have received an overwhelming–yet heartbreaking–response. Bars that have been in the family for generations may have to close. Faithful employees are without an income, and local patrons are without companionship. Thank you to everyone who has responded. I am working on a blog detailing your story now. It may not be entertaining…but it will be the truth.
I understand that there is a deadly virus out there, and there is a need to “social distance.” But how long will the quality of our lives be determined by Netflix and Lysol? And at what price? Our beloved dive bars must survive. Imagine drinking at Applebees the rest of your life.
As stated, I am working on a blog filled with stories about bar owners and how they are coping with the current closure. In the meantime, please continue to support them. Spread some dive bar love.
Place a carry out order. Buy a gift card. Keep these small town businesses in your prayers.
Because together we WILL get through this. As my husband’s beer should say, it’s time to KICK ass!
And no hand sanitizer is required for that!
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