snow days have lost their magic

When I woke up yesterday morning it was snowing – not enough for one of those “close all the offices and shut down the city” kinds of days (we’ve already had our allotted Two Big Storms in Oklahoma this season), but it did get me thinking.

When you work from home, there’s no such thing as a snow day.

I’ve lived enough places to realize that snow days are by no means a universal phenomenon.  In Chicago, where politicians’ ability to retain office is based on clear roads and regular garbage pick-ups, a snow day is a day when the snow plows wake you up at 4:00 am as they scrape the street outside your apartment building.  No excuses not to go in to work!  In Washington, DC, on the other hand, the entire population is thrown in a state of shock by the first signs of bad weather.  This might be understandable if DC were located in the deep south.  However, when I lived there in the late ‘80’s we had more than one winter storm dump a couple of feet of snow on us.  Ignoring all evidence to the contrary, the transportation authority felt a de-icing system wasn’t required for the Metro, so in bad weather the subway lines – and pretty much everything else – shut down.

It does indeed seem that there is an inverse relationship between the severity of a locale’s customary winter weather and the likelihood of a good old fashioned snow day.  In Park City, Utah, public roads are regularly plowed (got to make sure skiers can get to the resorts!) and most residents contract with formal snow removal services for the entire season.  I solved the snow problem a different way:  After renting an old miner’s cottage on the street behind my office, I could simply walk to work.  And when the snow piled up against the back of my house as high as my roof line, I happily discovered that it was a great insulator and appreciated my reduced heating bill.  On the other hand, when the street plow slush piled up behind my car, I not-so-happily discovered that it was almost impossible to shovel if it was allowed to sit and freeze up.  Although I may not have needed a car for my work commute, I still started every morning digging out my driveway.

My most recent official snow day occurred in upstate New York.  After surviving both the Utah and Colorado mountains, I’m embarrassed to admit that this snow day was personal rather than company-wide. 

I had been living in South Florida for several years when my company was acquired by a business located about 45 minutes outside of Syracuse.  During my time on the beach I gave away my winter coats, boots and good sense when it comes to bad weather.  So when I needed to report to the acquiring company’s corporate headquarters for my first week as their new Vice President – this was in January, no less – I threw my pointy-toed high heeled boots and leather jacket in a suitcase and hoped for the best.  After all, it’s not like practical snow gear is available in Florida on every street corner.  Perhaps more foolishly, I opted to rent an economy car.

My first day in the new office everyone shook their head at my impractical attire.  The second day, it began to snow – and a 20 minute return trip to my hotel expanded to a terrifying hour sliding on back country roads.  The third day, my boss called at 7:00 am.

“Don’t come in to work today,” she said.

Of course I asked why.

“The roads are terrible, the car you are driving is completely unsuitable for these conditions and the way you’re dressed, well, if you run into problems you could die of exposure.”

O-kay.  Happy to work from the hotel.  Let's hear it for a snow day just for me.

I should add here that on the fourth day I got a ride from a colleague accustomed to driving in snow – and on the fifth day, when I had decided I really couldn’t keep on being a chicken and was driving myself again, I passed that colleague on my way to work.  He was standing at the side of the road while a tow truck pulled his car out of a ditch.

Today, just like my mama taught me, I keep a blanket, shovel and kitty litter in my trunk all winter long.  And I did buy a new winter coat when I moved back up north.  But these precautions really aren’t necessary now when it comes to getting to work in the snow.  Unless my roof caves in, nothing’s going to prevent me from making the one-story trip from my bedroom to my office.  All in all, I’ve got to admit that’s a good thing.

However, some mornings when I wake up to big flakes of snow coming down and the sound of school closings on the radio, the kid in me has a different opinion about my close commute: 

“Darn.”