Snow Day Musings

I just got done with a nice, quiet walk in the snow, and while I was walking I got to thinking about several things:

1. Why do I get funny looks from my neighbors when I shovel my driveway? The neighbors up the hill have a snowplow blade attached to their four-wheeler and do a nice job of plowing out our roads (they're not the ones who give me funny looks). But how come nobody else seems to shovel when it snows? Am I the only person who sees the snow piling up and thinks, "Uh oh, better get that up before it freezes and makes it impossible to get out of my garage."

2. Why don't they plow roads here? (The city, I mean.) Okay, maybe the main school bus route gets plowed mid-afternoon on a day it's snowed, but most roads stay snow-packed and then melt, get slushy, and become impassable until the snow melts away. Fortunately, the snow DOES melt fairly fast here most of the time. But honestly, if the city would plow and/or sand roads, there wouldn't be a need to shut down school so often.

Here's my theory: West Virginia is in a state of winter denial. Here's the mindset: "Yeah, we're in the Appalachians, and yeah, we get snow every year, but we're going to pretend that we're further south and really DON'T get snow all the time. Then we won't have to deal with it."

Consequences of this state of denial: When it snows, people panic. All the milk and Ramen noodles disappear from grocery shelves, people drive ten miles an hour even if the snow's not sticking, and school gets canceled for an inch of accumulation. It's like people pretend there's not winter even though there is, so when the winter weather happens, everyone's shocked. It's January, people. Snow shouldn't be a surprise at this point.

Corollary: How students dress for said winter weather. Uggs are starting to come into fashion, so at least students have traction when they walk, but Uggs are more decorative than functional. Yes, they're warm, and yes, I'd like a pair, but they're not snow boots. Definitely not water-proof. I had a conversation with some colleagues the other evening about students wearing shorts and tank tops to class in the winter and then complaining that they were cold. Again, um, it's winter.

Why don't we just accept the fact that it's winter, learn to drive in snow, and actually deal with the snow accumulation rather than pretending it'll go away if we ignore it? Granted, I moved here from Iowa, where if you don't deal with the snow right away you're in big trouble travel-wise. But why can't that be the mindset here?

I'm seeing a human nature parallel. It's easier to pretend that there are no effects to our actions; it's easier to pretend winter's never going to hit, or if it does, it'll be mild and then go away. Shoveling roads and sidewalks, putting on extra clothing layers, learning to drive on icy hills-- those all take effort and planning. Psychologically, it's easier to think it's always spring or summer. But winter still comes, and it stays for a while. My thinking is that you might as well adapt to the winter and accept that it's here rather than be caught by surprise when you had advanced warning.

Okay, I could go deeper with the analogy, but I'm not going to. It's time to eat lunch.