Some call us a little too much. But we, as a family, always liked to be prepared. We live next to a large body of water and in a rural area. It is common for us to loose power when a thunder storm blows over, hence the generator. Ours is a single road access and egress. A few years back we had three days of extremely heavy rain. The road was washed out and needless to say we had no power or access to civilization. Hence the stocked pile, one week's worth of MREs and cases of water. We also have an extra month's worth of all prescription medicine and first aid supplies. When the power goes so does call coverage. When we know a storm is headed our way we fill all bathtubs with water so when the water stops coming we have water for the toilets. We have extra propane for the BAR-B-Q etc. So we have over time prepared ourselves and do not have to face the last minute panic buying.