And Now, Dr Pepper.

When the Coronavirus pandemic first started, there were product shortages. Shortages of things I understood. Surgical masks. Clorox wipes. Lysol spray.

Then, it was toilet paper, paper towels and canned food… Okay, we were hoarding because we have no idea where this thing is going.

Now, months later, we learn there’s a new shortage—one that might shock you… Dr Pepper.

Dr Pepper! Noooooo! Not my beloved DP!

I’m a Texas boy, and where I come from, Dr Pepper is like mother’s milk to me. It’s my drink of choice over everything else. So, when I heard this news, I knew I had to get to the bottom of it.

I went to what I thought would be the ultimate authority on the issue… Texas Monthly.

The headline: “As if 2020 weren’t bad enough, we are now running out of Dr Pepper.”

Side note: Texas Monthly also gives a nice history on Dr Pepper—which, by the way, was invented in 1885 in Waco and bottled for more than a century in Dublin, Texas.

Ok, I’m off track. Back to the matter at hand…

Dr Pepper tweets this out: “We know it’s harder to find Dr Pepper these days. We’re working on it– hang tight!”

So, what’s going on? Well, USA Today says the problem has to do with a shortage of aluminum cans. According to the paper, soft drink and beer consumption has shifted from restaurants to homes during the pandemic, which has caused the shortage.

So it appears we have an answer to the shortage… It’s not a lack of Dr Pepper, but a lack of cans to put it in. I suppose the obvious question is… why not just put it in plastic or glass bottles? I guess it’s tough to convert a manufacturing operation like that.

Whatever the reason, I’m in trouble. For a while, I thought I had managed to get myself off Dr Pepper. Then, they come out with Dr Pepper & Cream Soda. It’s so good. But I still weened myself off.

Now, just hearing word of a shortage has forced me into a panic.

So you’ll excuse me if I end this now… I gotta get to the store. Every store in town! Time to stock up!