Snow index

It's winter! Guess what that means. It will snow. Really? Uhm, I think so. We are a northern city, after all. Ya know what else? What? It'll get cold. Really? Yea. We do live in a northern city, ya know.

After fifty plus years it still astounds me how incredibly stupid people can be when it comes to weather. How in the world can a northern city come to a complete standstill, the populace panic, every school within earshot close completely down, all over snowfall that isn't deeper than my index finger?

Years ago it wasn't so bad. In eight years of high school and college, I can remember schools closing three times. Three. Did you hear me? Three. Schools now close three times a month during winter. I wish someone would explain that to me. I understand more children are bused to school, but can't the rest of the school carry on? Guess what happens when they call off school? Everyone goes to stores and kids go outside to play. Can't go to school though. Someone might die. One reason schools cost so much is too many kids are bused to school, neighborhood schools; neighborhood schools where kids should be walking to school. Can't have that though, can we? It might make them tired, weak, shunned by others...the list goes on. Bull-hockey!

The news doesn't help much. The other night the weathercaster said 'brutally cold temps'...it would hit 23 degrees. Ooooo, that's nippy, but you know what? It's not brutally cold. Single digits for several days or below zero is brutally cold, not nine degrees below freezing. We get to see weather five times in a 30 minute newscast. Years ago, we saw it once. Weathermen create a panic. It's really all their fault. We don't have natural disasters much in Ohio; need something to rival the death-toll from tornadoes in the plains states to keep our jobs relevant.

Why are people cold? Because they don't dress for winter. They essentially wear the same clothes they wear in summer, put on a coat and wonder why they're cold. Winter means layers, gloves, thermal underwear, hats, boots and all the rest. Don't dress for June and complain to me you're cold. That just tells me you have the IQ of a chicken.

It's winter; three inches of snow is an inconvenience, not a death sentence. Deal with it.