It's All Relative

The news organizations are going nuts today because the New York City area is getting whopped with seven-to-ten inches of snow. The NYC schools are getting a snow day, traffic is ensnarled everywhere, flights are cancelled and news anchors are about to give themselves an aneurysm.

Meanwhile, Chicagoans are saying, “You pussies.”

We had blizzardy conditions all day yesterday, but nary a thing was mentioned on the news. O’Hare operated as normal, schools are open today, and my friends and I all went out for dinner last night.

I think it’s all relative.

For example, while I was living in Toronto, there was a snow event in January of ’99 which was the heaviest snowfall in all of Toronto’s history. Within one week, we received something like 110 kilometers of snow. It was the first time that all the schools closed down, some of the subways stopped running, and the city officials even called in the National Guard to help with snow removal.

Meanwhile, everyone in Ottawa and Montreal were saying, “You pussies.”

Having grown up in South Texas, I can tell you that freezing precipitation is a very rare thing down there. However, when it would happen, my mom would quickly herd us all into a nuclear fallout shelter upon hearing the first pellet of sleet.

I know it all has to do with the capacity of a particular city to deal with freezing precipitation. Trust me, a half-inch of sleet in Dallas is far more treacherous than a foot of snow in Chicago.

Even last night, we were really complaining about how cold and snowy it was in Chicago. After all, it was March 1st for crying out loud. I cannot imagine how folks in Fargo put up with far colder temps. It’s just beyond me.

If I ever had to live in Fargo, they’d be calling me the p-word.