Tom Finneran: Thoughts on the Blizzard
Friday, February 15, 2013
It happens on my street every time there’s a measurable storm. We all know the older folks, the single women, etc. They need an attentive neighbor with a younger, stronger back to clear the stairs and the walkway and to make sure that they’re safe, sound, and stocked with food. It happened again last weekend. It’s nice to see and even nicer to do. Someday we’ll be old too.
Here’s the problem with city living—there’s no darn place to put the snow! Yards are small and you really can’t pile up the snow as if you’re getting ready to host the Winter Olympics. So where do you toss the snow? Piled up along the corners and sides of the driveway, the walls of snow look as imposing as the Berlin Wall. Those walls create canyons, which block visibility and force you to creep into the middle of the street before you can even see an oncoming car. Yikes! Not fun.
It’s even worse if you live in a three-decker. It’s a great form of housing, either as an owner or as a tenant, but a small property footprint with three or four or more cars parked out in front creates a real nightmare. Now consider a row of such three-deckers, lining both sides of a city street, and you have a recipe for war. The car owners want to toss the snow in the middle of the street and the plow operators go crazy about it. Makes you yearn for July, doesn’t it?
It was an amazingly powerful storm, one of the few that not only met but surpassed all the pre-storm hype of the television stations. ARMAGGEDON! MILK AND BREAD!! WE’VE NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT!!! Actually, we were lucky that it hit on a Friday and Saturday, less disruption of school and work schedules and more time to shovel and clear our sidewalks. Thank God for small blessings.
By the way, what’s with all the press conferences with all the solemn faces clustered behind the Governor and the Mayor? It looks like a college football homecoming game where they dress half the student body for the game. Come on. The Mayor and the Governor are quite capable of standing up on their own two feet to tell us there will be no screwing around. They don’t need all the cheerleaders. Give the cheerleaders shovels and let them get to work. Enough of the photo ops already.
As tough as it is on us as residents, the two most thankless jobs out there have to be plow operator and utility repairman. The rest of us are ignorant, impatient, impossible critics. Where pray tell are the plow operators supposed to push many tons of snow? If I run out of room just shoveling my walk and driveway what do you think their deal is? Hundreds and hundreds of city streets, with thousands of intersections, and millions of tons of snow. Let’s lighten up on these guys. They do their best under next to impossible circumstances.
As for the utilities, hurricane force winds, combined with heavy wet snow, snap limbs and tree trunks and tear down live electrical wires. So the snow has to be cleared out for the trucks, trees have to be chain-sawed and removed, and then the bucket trucks come in to string new power lines. This is not a quick trip to the utility box to simply flip a circuit breaker. Nor are these tasks for the faint of heart. Walk a mile in their shoes before becoming a talk-show expert. And yes, I am painfully aware that the “romantic” aspect of losing power lasts for less than a day. After that, I’m bored, cold, hungry, and anxious. I want light, heat, food, comfort, convenience and confidence, and I want it immediately. So yes, I’m sympathetic to those still without power, yet empathetic to those who are working killer shifts, doing tough tasks, under brutal conditions. Let’s cut them a little slack.
Here’s a suggestion to help you prepare for the next storm of the century—vodka. Yes indeed, in addition to milk and bread, peanut butter and jelly, mac and cheese, meatloaf, coffee, cocoa, Cheerios, and flashlights be sure to stock up on vodka. It’s helped the Russians survive two world wars and it will help you navigate the hardships of the season’s storms. Next time, before I hit the Stop and Shop for the basics, I’m hitting the package store for the real necessity—vodka. Even better than vitamin C.
Two last thoughts on Mother Nature’s awesome show last week:
Boston marathon runners are in the midst of their training and those mountains of snow are real setbacks for them, so give them some room to run.
The woods and ponds and fields remain a strikingly beautiful sight, cloaked in pristine snow. Compare those memorable images with the really ugly piles of brown snow on our streets. It’s no wonder Mother Nature is loved. She’s beautiful even after her outbursts.
Related Articles
- Tom Finneran: The Cultural Decline Since Downton Abbey
- Tom Finneran: What Are You Afraid Of?
- Tom Finneran: Blocking and Tackling the Worcester Way
- Tom Finneran: Obama Throws a Touchdown Strike
- Tom Finneran: The New Year Beckons
- Tom Finneran: “Jobs That Americans Won’t Do”
- Tom Finneran: “That’s Gross”
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It