Snow

The weather people must be very satisfied with themselves. They forecasted snow from Thursday night into Friday. And boy, they were lucky. We did get a lot of snow. For Friday the City was buried under some serious snow blanket. It did look good at the start of the day but then it started to melt and became slushy. Melting and freezing slush are not a good combination, but we have no choice. This is winter.

There is a very interesting situation that prevails when it snows. People, mainly ones living in the outer suburbs scare very easily and do not go to work. They use every excuse, like trains are not running, the roads are not passable, their driveways are snowed in etc. to stay home. And most of the time these excuses work. If this day happen to fall on a Friday, I bet half the workforce stays home. I am saying this from experience. This was the way it happened in my office. 

Now interestingly, as the day goes by these people find ways to come up for air, to go out. Their streets get cleaned, the driveways get dug out and life will go on like nothing happened. They will go out to the stores and do shopping.

Curiously they will get upset and angry if they find their stores closed, or merchandise lacking due to the weather. They will not accept that other people whose purpose in life is to "serve" them might also have the same traveling difficulties as they do. Don't do as I do. Do as I expect you to do. Is their slogan.

I can not go to the train station in my Mercedes, but I expect the supermarket clerk to get to the store on his bicycle. This is their thinking. Nice, ha?

A little background. At one time I worked as a construction manager at a construction site in upstate New York. Wasn't too far from home, I used to drive there every day. I think it was in 1981 or '82. One winter we had some real heavy snow. I did get a company car to drive to and from work which I parked on the street at home. In one winter, there was a very heavy snow crippling the streets. My street was totally blocked by the deep snow making me unable to use the company car. So, I stayed home for about two days.

But my car was kept in the building garage and that garage opened to a main road that was cleaned pretty early. Next day that I was home I decided to go to skiing, which I did without any problems. When I told them at the office, they questioned that how come I could go skiing but was not able to come to work. I explained that my car was in the garage and the company car was in the blocked street. Lame explanation but they bought it.