Tina: Couldn’t you just order a pizza or something?

Bette:  Being brand new to the college world, I didn’t know that was a possibility.  The vending machines were empty. None of the college stores were opened. I knew nothing about where a grocery store was and I had no cell phone back then and no computers. And I didn’t know anybody.  All I knew was that I was hungry and a had no idea where to find food.

Tina:  Well, we are not going to leave Angie without a few days’ worth of food.

Angie:  Wow, I hadn’t thought about that. That sucks! What do all those students do for food.

Bette:  Upper classmen wait and arrive at the last possible moment.  Most of the student population will not arrive until Monday night. Just the freshman will be on campus on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Some will have their families in town at least until Sunday and they will provide them meals. But Monday will be a day of desperation unless they have something in their dorm room. The same thing happens on Thanksgiving weekend and the weekend student return from Christmas break.  The smart ones plan for it and are prepared. One complete day without food for an energic teenager leaves a memory which they do not want to repeat.

Tina:  Are there any other times Angie should prepare for?

Bette:  Yes – extreme bad weather where the dorm becomes snow bound and the electricity goes out. There will be heat because the dorms are heated by radiators which operate on natural gas. But there is no way to heat food except with pans on the radiator.  If the electricity goes out, then the meal place will not be able to prepare meals and people will be restricted to their dorms. So, what you have in your food locker is what you have. You need something to heat food with – small pot or some pie tins or even aluminum foil. And then you need survival food – soups, stews, maybe some of those childhood favorites like spaghetti-o’s, canned tuna, crackers, some sweets, maybe some dried fruits and nuts. Of course, you need to eat everything in the fridge first because everything will be ruined within a few hours. The biggest problem is you do not know when the event will end. It could be one or two days or it could be a week. If it goes a week, there is going to be some major desperation and hungry people. The big deal there is to always have a store of food ready no matter what. Canned goods last longer than packaged goods. But, after my first big storm, I put a supply of food in the farthest corner of my closet so that I wouldn’t eat it during normal times. So, I when I moved, I had a small stash of food in my closet ready to go. But I did the same thing in my apartment. I had enough for everyone in the house for about 5 days. They were not very impressive meals.  But it was food and we were eating regularly. I also keep drinking water as well. I think we had only one storm in which we had to get into that stash. I for one was glad it was there.