Snow & Ice Down South: A Small Rant

Winter storm Jonas, aka "Snowzilla" came to visit us over the weekend. While most of the snow is pretty much gone by now (benefit of living in the northern part of the South) we did have a couple inches of the white stuff on top of a couple inches of the clear stuff. 

Of course, we didn't get nearly as much snow as Virginia or other areas of the country, but we still got snow. The city of Charlotte (and surrounding areas) do not play with snow threats so they preemptively closed schools and government offices for Friday and many employers followed suit. Any time this happens people from other parts of the country like to balk at and make fun of the city/school system's decisions. Yes, the city pretty much shuts down for winter weather and yes, we know, you have driven to school uphill both ways in 10x this much snow. 

But you know what? The south is not equipped to handle adverse winter weather. We don't have all the plows, slag trucks and personnel that other more northern cities do. This isn't a common occurrence here so they don't invest money in a lot of that kind of equipment. People that live here don't have chains for their tires or even really know how to drive in snow/ice, so it's really better for everyone that we stay at home. Also, because of our more temperate climates, we almost never just get the powdery white snow that actually IS easy to drive in. We get what I call "snice" (snow + ice) and a lot of it. There was at least .75" of ice under the snow we got over the weekend.

Finally, in the south, we love snow. Yes, we realize that most of you probably moved down here to get away from it, but we love it so much BECAUSE it is so rare. So, don't make fun of us when we go out and play in it...even at 31 and 32 years old...cough..cough...By doing things like this. Yes, that's me "sledding" down an ice-covered hill on an upside down folding table. When there are no sleds to be found, we make do, y'all. :) Don't make fun of us for closing school or businesses when there is bad weather. Don't make fun of us for not being able to drive in it. We aren't used to it...and it's much safer to enjoy the snow when we stay home and play in it. :)

I'm trying to reason with y'all here but I could just be catty...and post this...