For years, I’ve listened to native Pittsburghers joke about how they react when TV tells them a big snowstorm is coming. It’s pretty simple: You go to the grocery, and you buy milk, bread and toilet paper. As much as you can carry. Because you never know how long you’re going to be buried in your house until PennDOT comes to dig you out.

I’ve been through several significant winter storms in the ten years I’ve lived in Pittsburgh, and other than joking about this stuff, I’ve never really paid attention to whether it’s true.

So starting Wednesday, TV has been ripe with pieces about this winter’s first big storm — due to hit Saturday, and ready to dump as much as a foot of snow around the area. Let the jokes begin.

So The Wife and I, already stocked with ample supplies, decided to head out for dinner Friday night. On the way home from Soprano’s (where we had an excellent meal), we stopped at the Allison Park Giant Eagle to get some stuff for dinner at home on Saturday.

No more joking. We wanted some hamburger. It’s all freaking gone. We didn’t need milk, but you couldn’t help but notice that NEARLY THE ENTIRE DAIRY AISLE WAS EMPTY. So just for fun, we checked the toilet paper supply. Seriously depleted.

So we head to our own Giant Eagle. Same thing. No meat. Milk display is crushed. The only toilet paper left is that industrial-strength Scott sandpaper. And that was almost gone.

Fortunately, the liquor store was still well-stocked. And it didn’t snow that much anyway.