Pantry Loaders

Power's back. And I didn't need much that I didn't have. Only one thing I did want: A simple AM/FM transistor radio. My VHF ham radios can be used to pick up FM, but they don't do a good job of it, and don't pick up broadcast AM at all. The best news radio here in DC is on AM, and their FM side is hard to pick up here. But we have a half-dozen flashlights, and everything in the fridge and freezer has stayed cold. And tonight for dinner, Chinese long beans stir-fried szechuan style with chicken.

'Pantry-Loaders' Motto: Any Store in a Storm (washingtonpost.com):

Tamara Stoops started shopping for Hurricane Isabel at 6:10 a.m. Wednesday and over a two-day period stopped at seven stores, buying batteries, flashlights, scissors, a battery-powered radio, a handheld TV, three fire extinguishers, pipes to drain water, nose plugs, eight rolls of duct tape, a first-aid kit, light sticks, kerosene and a large tarp.

She also stocked up on several pounds of salmon, six pounds of chicken breast, a five-pound bag of potatoes, two loaves of bread, several large bags of lettuce and 24 gallons of water to prepare for the hurricane.

When her husband suggested she might be overreacting, she responded: 'Look at Noah. They said he was foolish and look what happened.'

Thousands of Washingtonians have spent the past few days in long lines, stocking up in preparation for Hurricane Isabel. Just in case.

Retailers call the phenomenon 'pantry loading.'

Consumer psychologists describe it slightly differently: stress management, an attempt to control the uncontrollable.

'It's a coping mechanism,' said Joseph Sirgy, a consumer psychologist and marketing professor at Virginia Tech. In stressful situations, such as Hurricane Isabel, 'there is a certain percentage of the population who tend to overreact and try to overextend themselves by essentially protecting themselves' by buying up what they can.