The Dreaded S Word

That would of course be snow. There is nothing that fills people in DC with more dread then snow. You would think the world was coming to an end. It's not like we never get snow because we do. It just puts everyone in a complete and total panic. You can go to a grocery store and watch the shelves empty of bread, toilet paper, milk and eggs. As if it would be impossible for these items to be restocked for months.

I've lived here for over 30 years and it still makes me laugh at the reaction of people to snow. I don't think we got more than a couple of inches. They interviewed one person on TV who was shoveling the snow and they said they were just trying to
keep up with it. Keep up with what was my reaction.

Part of the problem is that people have no idea how to drive in snow. Of course that could also be said of when it rains here. No one seems to get the idea of the need to slow down and take it easy.

The real problem I see is that we don't get enough snow. It is going to warm up just enough over night and in the morning so we'll get sleet and freezing rain. Or as I call it slop. This is much more dangerous then snow. People have no idea how to drive in slop. They think it's rain and can just go as fast as they want to. I can't tell you the number of times when slop's been coming down how many people I see unable to stop at lights. Getting across the street to the Metro takes on a special challenge then.

So I would rather have snow any day over slop.

Here are a few pictures of how things looked this morning when our first "winter storm" came through DC.