Why Milk and Bread?
‘Harris Teeter bread isle’
courtesy of ‘wfyurasko’
We’ve been reporting since yesterday that, in light of the storm, stores have been running out of “essentials” like milk and bread. Now, I’m not from DC originally, I’m from Maine, but I’ve lived in the south for most of my life. It’s always perplexed me that citizens of non-snow prone states, at the first whispers of a substantial storm, immediately flock to their local grocery and buy up all the milk and bread. Why milk and bread? Why would you need more milk and bread during a snow storm than you would on any other day? Up north, people stock up on salt and snow shovels, and make sure they’ve got enough of the food they’d normally eat to last for a day or two. Can a southern reader please explain to me to logic behind the milk and bread craze?
Comments
11 Responses to “Why Milk and Bread?”
December 19th, 2009 at 5:56 pm
We Southerners like our French toast.
December 19th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
Anything can go between two slices of bread.
And milk does a body good.
December 19th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
Because those are the two things almost everyone keeps in their house and hates running out of. Not everyone needs canned tomatoes or frozen pizza.
December 19th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
I am originally from upstate NY, so I too laughed at all the milk and bread (and toilet paper) stories. But, much to my surprise, on Friday, I found myself stocking up on milk and bread (and eggs). The roomie and I were out of both. We need the bread for PB&J sammichs as well as for toast. We wanted to make cocoa, and thus needed milk. The eggs and milk were also for the pancakes we knew we’d be making.
That’s my take on the phenomena.
December 19th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
I used to work at Giant Food for years and we called the run on milk, bread, eggs, and toilet paper to be, “French Toast and Diarrhea Season.”
December 20th, 2009 at 2:08 am
Easy: Because you can melt the snow with milk, and shovel the streets with toilet paper. Duh.
December 20th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Ok, so I always thought this was ridiculous until I opened my fridge yesterday morning and thought of all the things I could make IF I ONLY EFFING HAD MILK. I thought of five things that needed milk, and wound up eating cheesy polenta (with water, ew) and broccoli, when I could have had nice honey muffins or lovely fresh baked scones.
December 21st, 2009 at 11:45 am
Perhaps because those are the two food products that go bad most often.
The tp is a new phenomenon.
December 23rd, 2009 at 4:03 pm
I think it’s because of habits: milk and bread are two things that people are used to having to stock up on in the middle of the week. So when they find themselves shopping on a day that’s not their normal shopping day, they automatically go for milk and bread.
Also: in lieu of the storm, stores have been running out of “essentials” like milk and bread.
This word, “in lieu,” I do not think it means what you think it means.
December 23rd, 2009 at 4:09 pm
Yeah, you’re right. When I write on auto-pilot, my mind says “that sounds nice” without actually putting meaning to a particular phrase. Correcting to “in light of”
February 3rd, 2010 at 3:14 pm
[...] snowed in for yet another weekend? Not this guy. Still, it seems inevitable. So, make a run on milk and bread and find some sweet board games, or something. I don’t think you’ll be going anywhere [...]