February 10, 2010

It's been snowing all day here in New York. They are making such a big thing about it that if World War III broke out today it would have taken second place behind the snow.

Looking out the window it is pretty. But only by looking out from the warm room to the cold snowy cityscape. The city will be nice and white and clean for about a half a day after the snow stops falling. After that all the nice fluffy stuff will turn to dirty slush.

That means we have to enjoy it while we can. Since I don't have to shovel all I can do is looking at it and enjoy it.

People are very funny creatures.

All last night and this morning they were warning people about the coming winter storm. They said if you didn't have to drive don't, if you can not go to work don't. In New York City they closed all Public Schools which is a rare occurrence.

So today there were a lot of people who decided to stay home and none of the kids went to school.

But people do venture out during the day and since they have nothing else to do they go to the stores or the malls.

A lot of malls and department stores were open as well as smaller stores.

People who are too wussy to go to work get upset if they find their stores closed because of the weather. The sales people at these stores have to be there and ready to serve regardless of the inclement weather even if the wusses are unwilling to go to work for the same reason.

We get upset if our supermarket is not open and its shelves are not fully stocked without thinking that the poor guy responsible for it had to brave the elements to get there.

This morning I looked out the window and saw absolutely no traffic at all. Suddenly a huge Pepsi truck drives by very likely making some deliveries. Interestingly, I didn't find it out of place or unusual him being on the road.

We are a very selfish bunch, all I can say.

I remember that about nineteen years ago I was assigned to work on a construction project not far from the City. But to ease my commute to and from the job sites, they were multiple locations, I was given a car to use.

Every evening that car was parked on the street front of my house while my own car was in the garage. My apartment house is on a small tree lined street that was always considered safe.

In the winter we had a humongous snow storm. Roads were impassable, streets were totally snowed in. I couldn't go to work even if I wanted to, so I stayed home the first day.

Now, my building's garage opens to a major road that is always cleaned first. By the end of the firs day that road was nicely cleaned while our small street was waiting to be discovered.

I decided that instead of sitting home I'll go skiing, which I did. Needless to say I had a great time.

Two or three days later I was finally able liberate the company car and go to work.

As it turned out I was the last to show up since all my colleagues lived in the suburbs where snow cleaning was done a lot quicker than in New York City.

When I relayed how I spent my days off some smart alec asked how come I was able to go skiing but couldn't come to work.

I responded that to work I use the company car for skiing I use my own car and my car was in the clear while the company car was buried in several feet of snow.

Doesn't this sound fair?