not the first time it's happened

I went to the post office today to mail some cards to America. I joined a depressing line of people and assumed I'd be there for hours. But no! One after another, people started leaving. As I made my hastened way to the counter, I overheard the reason: the post office was out of stamps. Yes, the post office. Oh, but they had other things for sale! Laundry detergent, for example. Bedsheets.

But I was prepared. I'd bought a ton of stamps early in the year and had been carrying them around with me for just such an occasion. When I got up to the counter, they started to turn me away, but as soon as I explained that I'd brought my own stamps, the clerks smiled and congratulated me on my cleverness. I thought briefly of standing outside and stamp-scalping at exorbitant rates, but decided my one small victory was enough.