Snow Day

It has been a while since I have posted.  There are various reasons, none of which are important.  But, one event has occurred over the weekend that I have found very interesting.  We had an ice storm.  The good news is that as ice storms go, this one was not very destructive.  Yes, people lost power and there was tree and property damage, but, as far as I know there were not any serious injuries or casualties.

What I found interesting though was people's reaction to the storm.  Memphians generally do not respond well to ice and snow.  We don't get a lot of it, so we are not really prepared to deal with it as easily as northern cities.  There were lots of television interviews of people who were headed to the grocery store to buy "supplies" and all sorts of other things.  At work, I heard comments that would make one think we were headed for some type of frozen apocalypse.  But none of this is what is fascinating to me.

What interests me is every person when they were discussing how awful it was going to be, was smiling the whole time.  Everybody knew, deep down, this was at worst a minor crisis, and secretly, was looking forward to staying in for a day enjoying cold weather activities.  I think this says something about human nature and particularly Southern human nature.

Behind our "we better be prepared" and "I hate winter weather" bravado, we are really kids at heart.  We can all, and as Southerners, in particular, love the little thrill we still get when we hear ice and snow are coming.  I think it brings back the memory of listening to the television or radio hoping that school was cancelled due to weather.

Yes snow and ice can be a problem.  Sometimes it can even be deadly.  But isn't it charming that despite our cynicism and false concern, we all still need a "snow day" once in a while?