The Fretful Mother's Blog

I’m just returning from a trip to Atlanta, where precipitation is apparently cause for panic. The forecasters kept saying they’d get 1 to 2 inches of snow, which I thought would be no big deal. No need to stock up on bread, milk and pop-tarts. Unfortunately the people of this great city had other ideas.

Before the snow had even started, the channel 2 news team was advising people to leave work at noon the following day and immediately head home. I thought this a little premature, but I’m all for leaving work early. As it so happened, the snow did begin falling the next day. Before it had accumulated even a dusting, I noted several accidents just by looking out the window. These people were in full-blown panic just because it was snowing! The roads weren’t even slick.

Now my favorite part was the on-scene reporter who went to an intersection once the snow had reached the 1-inch level and proudly announced “I am literally standing in a winter wonderland!” I about fell on the floor.

I understand snow is rare in these parts, but surely they understand the concept of it. They acted as if it would kill you on contact. I’ve never seen such panic. The TV listed the closing of all the schools and businesses. Yes, businesses. Restaurants, churches, retail all closed (this lasted for two days after the snow had ended). Had I known that was coming, I probably would have seen the need to stock up beforehand.

And to top it all off, the hotel didn’t have housekeeping service because none of the employees could make it to work. I was stuck reusing my towels, I ran out of kleenex and I had to smell two-day old leftover pizza (obviously I couldn’t remove it myself). It was a travesty.

So now I know the next time I go to Atlanta, I must bring a snow plow to work my way through the streets in the event of a massive snowstorm, and I must bring a set of tools to pick locks in order to get into the stores that will then be closed. You can never be too safe.

This entry was posted on February 14, 2010 at 6:55 pm and is filed under Fear of the Day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.