It snowed a little bit yesterday. Today it was a little icy. So of course, the school systems in Montgomery and Fairfax counties called off school for both days. I was watching the news this evening, and there was Barack, sitting at a table before a meeting, complaining about how his girls didn't have school today. He said something along the lines of, "We're from Chicago. We go to school when it snows." He said one of his daughters even reminded him that not only do they go to school on snowy days, they go outside to play at recess.
I could see the total look of bafflement on Barack's face as he tried to wrap his mind around this new concept of snow days and school.
I grew up in Connecticut and then lived in Manhattan for 10 years. When it snows there, you go to school and you go to work unless it's a blizzard and the drifts are above your waist. That's not official policy, I'm just saying how it seemed to me at the time.
Here (we used to joke about this when we still lived in Silver Spring) if there's an icy patch somewhere in Germantown, there's a snow day.
So, all I could think, watching Barack puzzle over this was, oh my friend, you have many, many more days of complete and utter bafflement ahead of you whenever there's even just a flake of snow in the sky.
Welcome to Washington . . .
2 comments:
I must stick up for my home town. On Tuesday I ignored the weather and left my house to meet a friend for lunch. Yes, it was snowing but I said, quite reasonably, a little snow shouldn't stop me. I'm no wimp. Well, the snow didn't stop me, but the stop sign at the end of my street did. I used it to stop my car which was hurtling toward NH Ave and 40-mile-an-hour oncoming traffic. Just that little bit of snow, about 1/2 inch at that time, was on top of ice. So I now own a car with a bent frame---we're looking at well over a thousand for repairs. AND, on Thursday, when I took my car into the shop for a repair estimate, I slipped on (black) ice while walking home and fell on my chin, which now sports a glorious black and yellow and chartreuse bruise the size of my fist. So while I still love Mr. O (and you) I beg to differ. DC and environs have legitimate reasons for caution during the snow/ice/sleet storms we so often get.
Pam, my apologies. For you, I give permanent Okay For DC In The Snow exclusion.
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