Finally snow has reached the DC region. Snow is old, unwelcome news for everyone else on the east coast (even people in Atlanta)... but for some reason the greater DC/Baltimore area has been spared any winter havoc so far this year.
But the first real bit of messy weather is here. The light two or three inches that fell last night was trivial...a fake out by mother nature. But being the weenies that they are, many Marylanders were surprised that the federal government wasn't delayed because they were dealing with snow and ice on their cars and in their driveways, but soon they saw that DC barely looked rained on so Wednesday progressed per usual. But around noon, schools and businesses began to announce early closures, and as people slowly shuffled out of their cubes and into their cars and onto trains, and the snow made its entrance.
Slowly at first, then harder, and then into what is being termed "thundersnow"...
I don't know if I've ever seen it snow this hard. I've seen it snow 'a lot' but never have I seen snow cascade like, well.... a thunderstorm.
I decided to try and leave later, opting to deal with the elements rather than with stupid people. This plan was near successful. I say 'near' because when I got out onto the roads, the people from 3pm were still there on the road, but at least I cut down on the amount of time I had to spend with them. So my commute home normally takes about 1-1/2 hours. Today it took 3. The time part, I don't mind so much, but the stressful driving conditions (poor visibility, cars sliding around) make any amount of time on the road unpleasant.
About halfway through my trip I switched from my ipod to the radio, and half an hour later I felt so much better because of some stories shared by other people in the middle of their long journeys home...
... a commute that normally takes 10 minutes was taking 4 hours...
...a guy who has no heat in his car was driving in traffic with his windows down to defrost his windshield...
...LOTS of people who needed to use the bathroom and were deciding if they should go by the side of the road or in the coffee thermos they just got for christmas or on the towel in their backseat...
.... and the guy who got caught up in this traffic mess while he was going to meet his girlfriend, and since it didn't seem like he was gonna get there anytime soon, the girl just called him to tell him she wants to break up with him!
So when you're in a slushy, dirty, crappy (wanna scream 'don't block the box' at everyone) situation, just remember to look at the bright side.
Now I am home, in my sweats in front of the tv. If all goes well, this could be my life for the next 24 hours.
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