Jimmy Del Ponte On The Silly Side (The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.) Thanks to all my Facebook friends for weighing in on this one. A few weeks ago it was in our cellars , dripping through into our living rooms ceilings and turning some neighborhoods into Venice, Italy.

We never wanted to see water again. Then came the great water main break of 2010. Now we cant get enough of the stuff. Purified that is.

It reminds me of the old days when we panicked about having no beer on Sunday.

On Saturday night, there was a line from Kappy's Liquors to BJ's parking lot in Medford. There were cops directing traffic coming from both ways.

I was on a too late mission to grab an additional back up case or two of H2O. As a former president once said, "Not gonna happen." As I banged a U turn, I saw three State Police cruisers whiz by me.

I found out later that they were fighting over water at BJ's and the manager was forced to shut the store down. By 8 p.m. Saturday night there was not a drop of bottled water to be found. It was like the old days trying to find freaking Elmo at Christmastime. It was like trying to find a sump pump during those days of soaking rain. Remember when Home Depot put a makeshift sign on the door saying "No Pumps"? By the time this article is printed, I bet we are all chuckling about the great water panic of May 2010.

The dilemma it caused among us coffee drinkers was near epic proportion. If you could have seen the looks on people's faces when they saw that their favorite Dunkin Donuts was closed. I have seen that look before. It was in a drug rehab. I made my own coffee.

My cousin actually has about 50 cases of the liquid gold in his cellar. In the old days, he would have had 50 cases of Miller Lite. I don't think he was preparing for an emergency as much as merely grabbing it when it was on sale. I think he set up a water stand at the corner of Gorham and Holland Streets to supplement his retirement funds.

It brought back memories of the great gas shortage of the 1970s. People just flip the hell out. Imagine if we lived in countries where they have to boil their water all the time? We are so spoiled.

Under my kids bed's are tons of half empty and barely touched water bottles. They take them to bed with them, take three sips, and never finish them.

Here is a list of all the yucky things I drank and survived. (Too many alcoholic concoctions to mention in my younger days.) I swallowed my share of Somerville YMCA pool water. EEEUUU!!!

I got many mouthfuls of Revere Beach salt water as a kid. I almost drowned at Breakheart Reservation. (Thanks to Rose Ann Clemente for saving my life!) And I hate to say it , but my kids and I have all , by accident of course, ingested water from the various human bacterial frappes that are disguised as "water parks". Despite my son picking up an annoying skin rash , and a cut on one of the ladders, we all survived. We needed a visit from Auntie. Auntie Biotic, that is.

I dare say we will get through this wet and wild week of weirdness. Just do us all a favor. Calm down! There was also some kind of water related near riot in Belmont. I have to end by saying that a even though there may we may be in the midst of a dilemma, it can bring out some great acts of humanity. A friends girlfriend actually gave her boyfriends' ex-wife a case of water. Now ain't that nice?

I am going to BJ's later to buy plastic utensils , cups and plates. And if they have any water, and no one picks a fight with me, I may pick up a little more H20.