I interviewed about 10 people Inside The Beltway on Wednesday and Thursday from my office here in The Original Las Vegas, N.M., and before we addressed the topic I wanted to discuss, each and every one of my interviewees felt the need to tell me a tale of woe about snows, past, present and future.
What's the big deal with snow in D.C.?
Last week we had a storm that closed I-40 -- from 20 miles east of Albuquerque to all the way across New Mexico, through the Texas Panhandle to the Oklahoma border -- and, as far as I can tell, folks in these states viewed the snow as a minor inconvenience, not a D.C.-style National Emergency Weather Event.
I guess I have been away from the nation's capital way too long.
COMMENTS
The big deal is this area doesn't have the equipment or the plows to deal with this amount of snow. I have lived places where they are used to this sort of event--Anchorage AK for one--but this is an abnormal event for this area.
I do agree with Kathleen: I don't know WHY toilet paper is a critical need for a snow storm! When I lived where hurricanes were prevalent, the same thing except add on bottled water as a critical need.
Stephanie 02/08/10 06:32 pm ET
When I was a kid growing up in Great Falls, VA my brother had to ride his horse to Bucks Store in GFs to buy some staples such as Milk, bread and canned meat. Our power was out for a week and the drifts were 4-5 ft. We ate and slept by the fireplace to keep warm. My older brother was a real trooper!. We had to warm snow in a tub to water our horses! Those were the days....
Now days it is unsafe to drive the Beltway or other DC metro roads during dry pavement much less a blizzard. Drivers are crazy back here....
Bob 02/08/10 10:20 am ET
Yes you have been away too long! Don't you remember the grocery stores runs for milk, bread and toilet paper? Which for the life of me, I still can't think of why these are the critical needs during a snow storm.
At least now we have the technology, management and skills to do more telework and collaboration online to keep things running.
Kathleen - ClearedJobsNet 02/05/10 08:23 am ET