Fare Thee Well, Snow Birds!

A unique characteristic of Yuma's is that it is home to 30,000 Snow Birds during the months of Oct.-April! For those who don't know, Snow Birds are old people who live up north and come down to the warmer climates to escape the cold and snow. When the temperature starts to rise here, they pack up their giant RV's and head back home. Our subdivision is surrounded by RV parks and they are at full occupancy during these winter months! They literally take over the town and are like locust, they travel in swarms and take everything in sight! I used to love going grocery shopping because it was the only kind of shopping that I feel justified in doing...I mean a family has got to eat right? Well, that quickly changed when we moved to Yuma because all the Snow Birds! There have been times when I will go to the store and every register will be open and there will be at least 5 people in each line. The self-check out line will wrap around the freezer section! It is insane! You can't drive your cart through because there are too many people...many of who don't know how to control their own cart. Ty had to go to the store for me once and he couldn't believe the chaos! I learned several things quickly though. First, go shopping at night, like around 6 or 7, they are all gone and getting ready for bed by than or playing Bingo at the RV park and so you can have a peaceful trip to the store sans senial old people who can't manuever their carts. Second, do not go at all, day or night, on the first of the month! This is when the Social Security checks and all other government checks arrive in the mail...for all 30,000 individuals!! All 30,000 old people decide to head to the grocery story to stock up on their food!!! You haven't seen anything unless you go to the store on that day. And you try to equally avoid shopping on the first Wed of the month because this is Senior discount day! The businesses love these guys, but I am glad to see them leave! And that is exactly what they are doing, within the next month, they all will start packing up their RV's and head back north!
I have to share a personal experience that I had with one female Snow Bird. I was in the juice aisle (forget getting Tomato Juice or Cranberry Juice, they never have enough...not that I drink either) and there was a female Bird arguing with a worker about needing apple cider...not apple juice. The bottle she had in her hand said, "apple cider" but she wasn't convinced, it had to be the plastic gallon jug kind. The poor clerk, he didn't know what to tell her, so she sent him away with a huff and started talking to herself about how he didn't know what he was talking about. But it was in a way that she was talking to herself but wanted everyone around her to be a part of the conversation. I was the lucky audience because I was right by her. Than she turned to me and said, "I need apple cider, you would think that they would have apple cider right? Why don't they have apple cider?" I looked at her, than the bottle in her hand and said, "Well, that bottle does say 'apple cider' on it. Wouldn't that work?" And than with all the irritation and impatience of a 70 year old woman, she snapped at me and said, "Well, I know that deary, but I don't believe that it is apple cider!" Wo Nelly!!!!! I think she forgot to take her fiber that morning! I just smiled and pushed my cart away...far, far away! She continued to have a very out loud conversation with herself and any poor soul who was around. The female Birds tend to talk to themselves a lot. The male Birds have learned to tune their companions out, many years of practice I think.
All of us, non-birds, are all ready to send them off! You know those scenes in movies where the person leaving thinks that everyone they are leaving behind are going to be totally distraught when they leave but when they look back through the back window they see all those same people throwing a huge party with balloons, streamers and a big band...that will be all of us with each RV that rolls on out of here!