Today I will admit, right at the start, that I read the news headline of the Seattle Times as the genetic envelope and I walked by the paper box. "Why Can't Seattle Handle The Snow" was emblazoned across the graffiti carved plastic window. I had already read the banner and was laughing out loud to The Kid before I remembered I wasn't supposed to be perusing the news.
In my defense, I have to say that Seattle not being able to handle the snow is not really news. The city handling or lack thereof, of the winter storm of 2009, was the undoing of our former mayor, Greg Nickels. Well, that and losing the Supersonics, caving to Paul Allen and quashing the voter approved monorail. Now Mayor Mike "The Bike" McGinn ain't faring any better. Just a little snow paralyzes the city. Why? There are simply too many morons who have to try out their untested snow driving skills, too many hills and not enough plows. Seattle is also, duh, at sea level so whatever snow we get promptly turns to a glaze of ice because it is usually just barely cold enough to freeze and not nearly cold enough for snow to stay fluffy and driveable.
So why should the city or WSDOT care if they are short on plows? In truth it doesn't snow here very damn often so why spend a gazillion dollars on a bunch of plows just so people can move effortlessly on the two or three days a year on average that we are inconvenienced by the white stuff? Hey, its a snow day!! These days are a gift from the weather gods. Its a bonus, so why not enjoy it? Everyone knows just how lame our fair burg is when it comes to coping with snow so it is an almost ironclad excuse to get out of anything. I say take the excuse, run with it and stop looking a gift horse in the mouth. What kind of slackers are these people anyway?
With all the extra time afforded by the snowy excuse for slacking, the Thanksgiving shopping was accomplished with ease, the pies were secured from the folks at Shoofly and The Kid cheered our success with a resounding "Huzzah!!" Really, that was his exact phrasing and it made me proud.
Bliss follows recrimination as "Fawlty Towers" and "A Bit of Fry and Laurie" follow power slides in the snow when no one was watching, The Kid is reading "The Stupidest Angel" to ensure his literary corruption at my hand. And I, forgiving the City their transgressions, look forward to Thanksgiving and lots of free time to watch the YouTubes my peeps are sending me of Seattlites sliding down snowy hills like so many mechanized pin-balls.
No comments:
Post a Comment