Can We Talk 2

Snow Storm

         The grocery stores and drug stores have done a big business this week. People are stocked up on milk, bread, prescriptions, soup, and toilet paper, and other things they believe necessary.

         We didn't do anything special at my house. We always get toilet paper in bulk, as well as tissues, paper towels, dish detergent, and trash bags. We buy a lot of coffee when it's on sale. We keep flashlights, batteries, candles, and matches. We always have bottled water and canned food.

         The snow shovel is handy. The lantern is in my father's bedroom. I have a flashlight by my bed. We're set for a power outage. My problem is going to work in the worst of the storm. I've had my hours cut back since the first of the year. I was only part-time to begin (no benefits that way--even the supervisors are kept just under the limit). If I call out, I not only miss half my paycheck this week, but I lose favor in the manager's eyes. Of course, wrecking my car could be worse. Getting killed wouldn't help my family any. So if it turns out like the predictions, I will be staying home. I don't drive an armored vehicle or have a red neck truck with big wheels.

         I've been in Charleston, WV, where a foot of snow doesn't slow anyone down, on foot or in vehicle. I know Michigan and many other places boast of snows deeper than ours. But we go for years at a time with only a few inches or several dustings only. This one is supposed to be 18-30 inches. That shuts down everything except the hospitals and the chain stores. I don't know who will be shopping when the authorities say, "Don't go out." Only locally owned businesses will close. All chains will be open for business even if no one comes in.

         We all understand nursing home and hospital employees have to go to work. Maybe gas stations, especially on major highways. But restaurants and stores?! Surely they could shut down when it hits six inches in our area--no one uses chains any more--and stay shut until after it's over and there's been a few hours to clear the roads, or open late the next day to allow a little melting.

         I once worked part-time at Macy's as a second job. There was a snow storm and all the smaller stores closed. We were scheduled to be open until midnight. All but four employees called out or left. The HR manager was in charge. No customers were in that big building. HR was staying at the motel in the shopping center and drove a four wheel drive. The four of us did neither. I walked around from department to department. There was no one to supervise me or complain about wandering. There were no customers to assist. The only other place open, besides the motel, was Pizza Hut. They weren't doing business either. It felt like such a waste to pay the electric bill and pay us to be there for nothing. But CHQ, where there was no snow, said to stay open. I had to drive 24 miles home when we finally got out, in a mid-size sedan with old tires. CHQ didn't care if I or one of the others hit an icy patch in the middle of the night and skidded into a ditch. Not their problem.

         I don't live in a city where there is a Macy's now. This storm will be worse. It should be historic for us. Next week it will be warmer and sunny. Just when it's melting pretty well, the rain will come. We'll have local area flooding. I've made up my mind. I'm not going into work unless the storm is delayed or fizzles out or skips around us. I'm too old to recover from an accident quickly. I'll just be one of what I used to think of as "sissy employees".