I try not to dredge up my day job too much here too often, as engrossing as the world of retail is to readers young and old; but I have a whole new kinda gripe this week. Thanks to the local news station running some kind of Tornado Preparedness Month spot, which mentions our stores are carrying all-weather emergency radios *at a steep discount!*, what was once a low-demand impulse item is now flying off the shelfs so fast we have a two-page waiting list for the next shipment.

Emergency radios aren’t exactly cutting edge technology. Nor are tornadoes and thunderstorms only a recent phenomena (caused by George W.!) The normally-ignored safety patrol has always suggested keeping a small battery-powered radio handy in case of power outages or bad weather. Hell, we had the radios last year and nobody got this rabid about them. We had a mother of five respond to the limit of two items by wondering (aloud of course) “Well… I guess I’ll have to decide which of my kids will get one.”

Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe it turns into a sassy talking robot toy that dispenses crack cocaine and teaches children how to spell, love, and believe in themselves. I can’t imagine these things costing much more than the $29.99 we charge, but damned if their homepage doesn’t list an MSRP of fifty bucks.
Now, if said special radio could actually CHANGE the weather, heck. Sold.