In early 2011, you might remember that the weather in January was pretty tough, like now. I was driving from CA to the east coast, and all was fine until I was driving in TX and a storm hit.
I kept telling people that it was bad, but no one on the east believed me, as there seemed to be a minimal amount of snowfall. They just figured I wasn't "used" to driving in the snow any more.
But, here's the thing...in weather like that, in places like that, most people try to stay off the roads, which means no traffic is wearing the snow down. There is no salt, and no plows. So it snows, and the roads can easily become treacherous with a minimal snowfall.
I had an incident, and had to get out of my car. I discovered that I had been driving on an ice rink. The road was solid ice.
Laugh, if you will, but it is a serious problem/mess for those areas unlikely to have this kind of weather. I suspect a bit of compassion might be better, though.
Just my couppla cents worth.
As a native New Yorker who grew up in snow, I was pretty dumbfounded, and I got to think about it a bit, as I got stuck in Coleman, TX for 4 days because the roads were so bad.
I have to say, though, that TX has an excellent line you can call to get road conditions. If it is gonna be bad, at least it is good to have a resource like that.
Just thought I would share my experience for the benefit of those who might not have a clue, given how "spoiled" those in colder climates are when it comes to dealing with this stuff.
It is like so many other things in life. Unless we are there, or are exposed to it, we can judge all too easily - based on what we think we know, in our experience, within our environment. The sum total of which likely "fails" when we overlay it over what another is dealing with in terms of what they know, in their experience, and within their environment.
We don't like when others do it to us, and yet how often do we do it to them?
I kept telling people that it was bad, but no one on the east believed me, as there seemed to be a minimal amount of snowfall. They just figured I wasn't "used" to driving in the snow any more.
But, here's the thing...in weather like that, in places like that, most people try to stay off the roads, which means no traffic is wearing the snow down. There is no salt, and no plows. So it snows, and the roads can easily become treacherous with a minimal snowfall.
I had an incident, and had to get out of my car. I discovered that I had been driving on an ice rink. The road was solid ice.
Laugh, if you will, but it is a serious problem/mess for those areas unlikely to have this kind of weather. I suspect a bit of compassion might be better, though.
Just my couppla cents worth.
As a native New Yorker who grew up in snow, I was pretty dumbfounded, and I got to think about it a bit, as I got stuck in Coleman, TX for 4 days because the roads were so bad.
I have to say, though, that TX has an excellent line you can call to get road conditions. If it is gonna be bad, at least it is good to have a resource like that.
Just thought I would share my experience for the benefit of those who might not have a clue, given how "spoiled" those in colder climates are when it comes to dealing with this stuff.
It is like so many other things in life. Unless we are there, or are exposed to it, we can judge all too easily - based on what we think we know, in our experience, within our environment. The sum total of which likely "fails" when we overlay it over what another is dealing with in terms of what they know, in their experience, and within their environment.
We don't like when others do it to us, and yet how often do we do it to them?
I (a native New Yorker) lived in Texas for 9 months, and experienced the city I lived in having to call out the National Guard to help them dig out of a 6 inch snowfall. I also lived in Arkansas for five years and finally got sick of winters where we got snow every winter but there was hardly any snow removal. You are right; people in the east don't understand this and they make fun of it because it is outside their experience to not know what to do with snow. Your last paragraph is spot on.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting, and for your comment. I was also reminded yesterday of when I used to work with people from Rochester and Buffalo, NY. They would laugh at how we didn't handle snow very well in our neck of the woods. Everything is truly relative.
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