When last week’s gargantuan blizzard brought much of the Northeast to a standstill, many Cambridgians reverted to their most primitive instincts. Some burrowed deep in their homes at the first sign of danger. Others released their inner predator and descended in hordes upon the stores of Harvard Square. Forming around the afternoon of Monday, January 26 and picking up speed as the day progressed, the frenzy left many shelves wiped clean.

But what exactly were people so desperate to stock up on? Canned tuna and Spam, perhaps? Flashlights and batteries? Toilet paper? No.

“Alcohol was sale number one,” Broadway Market staff member Laura Garcia said. “We sold pretty much everything on the shelves.” Garcia estimated that the store saw more than triple its usual volume of customers on Monday.

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Mark Cardullo of Cardullo’s Gourmet Shoppe had a similar experience: “A lot of wine did get sold, I just need to say that. People had an excuse to restock and they were doing it. Treating themselves.”

But Cambridge residents didn’t stop there. “Sale number two was bread,” Garcia said. “I was baking bread like crazy… I didn’t have time to cool it off, just put it outside [and it] was gone.” Apparently even burnt fingers weren’t enough to deter the carb-hungry crowds.

Unfortunately, this degree of enthusiasm came with a few drawbacks. According to Cardullo, “there was a bit of a frenzy.”

Garcia agreed: at Broadway Market, tensions were running high. “They were fighting for shopping carts,” she said.

All this took a toll on the staff. After waves of customers began pouring into Broadway Market around 2:00 p.m., Garcia described watching a few of her coworkers turn into zombies: “I’d say ‘Hey, how are you? How’s everything?’ And it’d be like they’d wake up.”

Adam Lucia, general manager of Savenor’s Market, had a similar experience. “People were definitely coming in kind of panic-stricken, and saying things like, ‘I just need something to cook for tomorrow! What should I do?’”

Regardless, Lucia remained sanguine. “It seemed to me that most people who came in weren’t necessarily feeling like they were going to die,” he said. “It was more like they… were situating themselves to spend a day drinking and eating.”

We understand, Cambridgians. Our winters are long, cold, and cutthroat, and we take our snow days very seriously. By all means, enjoy them in comfort—but next time, consider adding a few non-perishables to the shopping list. Why are you so desperate for bread?

— Laura E. Hatt