That one I don't get at all.
We used to have a spare sleeping bag, and water, and cat litter, and a shovel, and extra gloves and socks, in our trunk, every winter.
this was when you drove between towns, not just a quick hop to the grocery store, but out of town type driving.
The shovel just lived in the car, because you had to have one if you drove in the woods, by law, back in the day ( Washington State)

Now, down here, we keep a go bag for hurricanes, all we have to do is grab it.

In the 60s and 70s we always kept blankets, maybe a shovel, and other things during winter travel.

Now people bundle themselves and their kids into cars, thinking they'll be warm - and maybe they will be - but even if your car is okay but someone crashes into you, you'll be on the side of the road, perhaps with no heat, and no weather protection. And of course, if you run out of gas, slide off the road, battery or alternator dies, or whatever, you're kinda screwed.

On edit: Just curious, how did you keep the water in your trunk from freezing?

And for anyone wondering about the cat litter, it's preferable to sand because it can also help with traction but won't freeze into a solid chunk like sand can.

Sleeping bags, back then, were considered to be things that warmed you in need.
Now they have those aluminum type emergency wraps, and down jackets, etc. Much nicer ways to stay warm, I think.

a coffee maker that works in the lighter/charger spot and we always have an igloo with cold drinks and fresh fruit.
A few years ago were were able to share stuff including aspirin with folks -we were all coming from NM Airport and were stuck for four hours because of an accident on the main road. I rarely leave home without the igloo.

Well, okay, twice. But both times in Massachusetts. We've received more snow in Eastern Connecticut then they have in the mountains of Vermont. Every storm seems to be tracking to the south, along the coast. Very few Northern Vermont mountains have even been able to fully open yet (if any). Usually I get to ride about 25-30 days a season. Here it is mid-February, and I've only been out twice on small (1000') Massachusetts hills. Vermont finally got a little bit of snow this past week, but not it is supposed to be -18 degrees real temperature, not wind chill, up there. With strong winds (meaning -35 wind chills). But then it's supposed to warm up next week. Last winter had more snow than we've seen in years, but it was too cold to ever leave the house! Weird weather days indeed.

Even with a bottle of peppermint schnappes in your pocket. I wouldn't be going.

If I was 18, maybe I would, but nowadays I don't even like going to the end of the driveway to pick up the mail. Fortunately I've been snowboarding since it was invented, so I had my share.

We went to Sugarbush a few years ago. Got to the top of Mt. Ellen in near white-out conditions. The real temperature was -6, with winds at 30-40 mph. Translated into about -35 wind chill as I recall. It was pure misery. To make matters worse, there are only two trails down from the top of Mt. Ellen, a blue, and a double black, but because of the conditions we couldn't even read the trail signs.

My wife was new to skiing, I'd been snowboarding for five years or so, so I'd seen some rough conditions. But she couldn't take it. She just sat down in the snow and cried. I had to explain how no one was coming to rescue us...the only way down is standing up. We probably sat for twenty minutes, snow drifts building up around us. They had shut down the lift by the time we got back down to the bottom. That's when I decided what my limit was.

I don't envy the people up there today or tomorrow. It's gonna be brutal.

And it's sure as hell not fun if you're on a ski lift, particularly a slow one (gondolas are okay), and god help you if the lift stops while you're in the fire of a snowmaking machine.

The love of my life "let me" go skiing with him.
Once.
I could not figure out for the life of me why people paid good money to freeze their asses off in cold wet snow, when they could just walk to work during a snowstorm to find adventure.