Us Brits should be use to snow, it darn well happens every year to varying degrees. It snows in America too, granted I haven't experienced a particularly snowy winter (I think this might be the exception) but the shocking differences in how England and US cope with the white stuff is striking, to say the least.
The days of commuting to and from York on the bus would mean the bus being an hour late arriving, then an hour late reaching York from a couple of inches of snow. You'd be lucky to see a gritter go by once a day on an evening in my former neck of the woods. We see the flake of snowfall and we get grumpy, the transport grinds to a halt and the country goes nowhere. Thing is while I mock, us northerners get on with it better than the south, additionally being from the north our snowfall rarely features on the news. Two snowflakes in London and it's the end of the world.
Snow doesn't seem to faze American's (at least not in states accustomed to it). People still go to work, go shopping, buses still run. The first sign of snow on turnpikes and freeways and salter teams (yes teams) work up and down to keep the roads clear. Salters in the US exist rather then gritters - salt works to melt the snow and ice and while it can badly rust your car it works so much better for getting and keeping roads passable.
Americans are legally obliged to clear any snow from covering the paths in front of their home and applying salt or sand and so on to keep it safe. Could you imagine UK residents doing the same shovel in hand during a snow storm? I think not. Or maybe I'm too cynical.
Over the weekend snowstorm Electra hit us here in Michigan, I think we felt about 6 inches or so of snow. Granted there were issues, as it was snowing throughout the day the salters couldn't keep up and freeway driving was a little dicey at least in the morning. Our apartment complex managers didn't feel the need to clear the snow from around the grounds because it was a Saturday and no one had given the say so getting to and from the car, wasn't easy. I mean who know snow would fall on a weekend of all days .... Nevertheless it certainly wasn't stopping people from getting out and yes, that's a photograph somewhat showing the conditions down in Detroit during said snowstorm while finishing up at estate sale. People here battle through snow, sadly the UK could look to learning how to cope a little better.
I mean, it's not like it doesn't happen every year or anything ... that would be crazy!
What's your take? Do you love the snowy season? How do people cope with it where you live?
What's your take? Do you love the snowy season? How do people cope with it where you live?