Conversations

     The C.S.O. recently – i.e., about ten days ago – ordered a case of wine from a winery of which we’re part owners. As of yesterday morning, we still hadn’t been given a shipping date, much less a delivery date. This has given rise to some consternation:

FWP: Why are they unable to tell us that the wine has been shipped, at least?
CSO: (shrugs) It’s that way all over. Anyone who does business over the Web is having a problem.

FWP: I can’t see why that should be. After all, we’ve been dealing with this WuFlu crap since March!
CSO: It’s not the virus, it’s Christmas season. Shipping is always tougher in December.

FWP: I still don’t get it. It’s not like we don’t know Christmas is coming on December 25 every year. Or did UPS and FedEx think the government would cancel that, too?
CSO: The bottleneck isn’t at the delivery services, sweetie; it’s at the retailers themselves. Their shipping departments can’t cope with the surge of orders.

FWP: Makes no sense. If anyone should know how to get wine through a bottleneck, surely a winery would. I mean, we do it every evening!
CSO: (Unprintable)