Always be prepared

‘Always be prepared’, that’s my motto. So why wasn’t I? It was a thought I’d come back to again and again over the lockdown period. Why didn’t I prepare? When Covid 19 hit I had no frozen falafel in the freezer, no dried chickpeas, a few scant tins which were to soon run out. I had been too complacent, with such easy access to falafel that I didn’t even start to worry when supermarkets ran out of basics. Chickpeas would be available, there won’t be a run on chickpeas, I thought. But as I gazed at the empty shelves at Tesco on one of our rare shopping trips out of lockdown, I felt a horror grow inside of me. This really was the end of times. Was it a sign that plant based eating was truly taking off or were chickpeas just easy hoarding food? Either way, I was running on empty and time was running out.

There were takeaway options, but very few. Apparently living just south of the river in Bristol means your choices are vastly reduced.

I mean, kebab shops were delivering but their falafel is OK for a drunken bite when out, but I’m not going to pay the £15 minimum for some dry falafel from places of questionable hygiene, even when desperate. And desperate I was. I tried to remember the last time I had a falafel, and realised it was over a month ago. My heart started beating UNCONTROLLABLEY. I discovered that Biblos were delivering to our neck of the woods, and they do a decent falafel wrap indeed, but they had DOUBLED their prices.  I’m not paying 13 pounds for a falafel. I’m not an idiot. Morosely I started looking at photos of falafel on the Internet, re reading blog posts, trying to remind myself of the good times. Would good times ever come back again?

To be continued…