February 11, 2007
Why Bread, Milk, and Eggs?
Down here in the South, snow is a very rare phenomenon. Here in Atlanta, we’ll get an occasional ice storm, and even more rarely do we see snow. When it does occur, it’s at most a 1/2 day disruption. By early afternoon, everything has melted.
Yet when there’s a forecast for snow or ice, the city panics. People rush to the grocery store and buy the place out of bread, milk, and eggs. For those of us who grew up in northern climes, it’s high comedy.
But I was thinking about it today. Why bread, milk, and eggs? I realize they’re considered “staples” by most people, but how many people in the modern world eat these things every morning? Wouldn’t it make a lot more sense to pick up oatmeal, bottled water, and canned goods? You know, non-perishables? It’s even worse, because if the fit really hit the shan, and the power went out, the milk and eggs would spoil!
I guess it’s just irrational, and there’s no explanation for it. After all, if you’re irrational enough to think that a 1/2″ of snow is going to shut down Atlanta for a week, you’re probably irrational enough to think the power won’t go out and the 3 gallons of milk and 4 dozen eggs you just bought won’t spoil….
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They do the same in the northeast city I live in, but snack food has the highest priority.
My wife has suggested that there is something about an impending storm that makes people crave French Toast.
If it is cold enough outside for snow, it is cold enough outside to leave the milk and eggs on the back porch. ;]
People do the exact same thing here in St. Louis – bread, milk, and eggs. A few years back, a local talk host speculated that when the weather gets tough, people must develop a craving for french toast.
They may have plenty of non-perishable food stored at home already, so it’s the perishables that they worry about when contemplating being snowed-in. And lack of refrigeration is not a problem when you’ve got a snowstorm, or at least it seems that way to me – the only trouble with sticking it out on the back porch is remembering to fetch it back in before it freezes too much. (I’m a Michigander; a couple of weeks ago I went to work as usual through 18 inches of fresh snow, and since then the thermometer has been up and down between + and – 10F. Oh, and there’s at least 6 months of food in the basement, but it wouldn’t be long before I was eating my breakfast cereal dry.)