Maybe they were shopping for Christmas presents, too?

I finally got around to Christmas shopping today. I figured I might as well start since I needed to get Hobbit's birthday present anyway. Her birthday is Friday.

I went to Walmart first (going during the day because there are fewer people who want to talk to me that work during the day than there are on the night shift) and it wasn't too busy. I didn't expect it to be since it was a Wednesday afternoon, but Christmas time does bump up the traffic a bit, even in the middle of the week during the day.

Then I went to Dollar General. No wonder Walmart wasn't busy. Everybody was there. It's a small place, so that does lend to the illusion that there are more people in the store, but the line was so long and snakey that I couldn't find the end of it. I ended up wandering around for a bit until the line at least got short enough that I could find the end.

I got in line and a guy got in line behind me. Yes, this is important to my story.

I left Dollar General, stopped at my car to drop off my bag, and then went nextdoor to the liquor store to get a Lotto ticket. Apparently, everyone that wasn't at the Dollar General was at the liquor store.

Anyway, I went in walked up to the line at the register and found myself standing behind the guy that had been standing behind me in Dollar General.

He wasn't buying a Lotto ticket, though. He was buying a Miller tall one. Judging by the looks of him, I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't last the drive home.

When I left, everyone that wasn't in Dollar General or inside the liquor store was in the liquor store drive-thru. Seriously. I'm looking at this long line thinking, "Why aren't you people at work? Why are you all getting booze? What's going on that I don't know about?"

Nevermind Saturday nights in the big city. That's easy.

Try Wednesday afternoons in a small town. That's where it's at.