Friday, January 16, 2009

The weather outside isn't THAT frightful

Ohio in winter is generally unpleasant, but not nearly as bad as our local newscasters would have you believe.

The other night, they spent twenty minutes yammering on about how cold and/or snowy it is in various cities across the state. One reporter went so far as to stick a yardstick in a snow drift to show just how dire the situation was. I'm sorry, but five inches (or as she reported it, "nearly six inches") of snow isn't enough for me to start freaking out about armageddon. Then there was a segment on various traffic problems caused by the cold and/or snow, complete with person-in-the-street interviews. Maybe traffic wouldn't be so bad if the news crews would get off the road and let people drive.

Perhaps it was a slow news night, but I am pretty certain there are some fairly serious things happening elsewhere in the world (in, for example, I dunno, maybe the Gaza strip). Hell, at the very least they could have talked about how cold and/or snowy it is in another state, like Minnesota or North Dakota . . .

8 comments:

Lori said...

Ah, but did she stand in front of the salt pile yet going on about how road crews will be out in force? We used to get that back in Pittsburgh. In fact, we'd make bets on when the first "salt pile" report would appear. ;))

My sister, who is in your state, was hoping the cold would cancel school. Even teachers like the day off. :))

Amie said...

Mostly, we get excuses as to why crews aren't out in force. All of our local schools are canceled today because of the cold . . . I wrote this post when it was still above zero . . . now it's double-digits below, but I still don't think it's worth 20 minutes of news coverage!

Unknown said...

Around here, if school gets called off all the teachers still have to come in, as well as the kids that walk to school. I don't understand how, when school is called off for cold, the kids that walk in the freezing weather have to come in, but the kids who ride a warm bus get to stay cozy in their beds. That doesn't make much sense to me, but neither does 20 minutes of weather coverage (with 6" of snow?) I wish we only had six inches of snow!

Angie Ledbetter said...

Not to compare with y'all suffering with severe cold and its fallout, but we dipped into the low 20s (with a wind chill of 0) here in Baton Rouge last night. Still not quite up to 30 yet.

Kathryn Magendie said...

It was minus 2 here this morning, some artic blast coming down to my mountain....but, it'll warm up again. No snow no ice - all good!

I lived in Ohio years ago! Dayton and Alpha -- I was in 3rd and 4th grade many moons ago.

In fact, a boy kissed me in Ohio - my first kiss. He had a crewcut, and it was white-blond and I was so surprised and I thought I'd go to hell *LAUGHING*

Anonymous said...

I read about all the weather conditions now and it is quite comical here in Alabama. When we get a threat of a "dusting" of snow...not even inches...but a light dusting...our schools start shutting down. It's hilarious. Everyone gets up early to check the TV and anxiously awaits their school districts closing or better yet...delays. We are famous for 2 hour delays now. Have the seasons gotten so off track that people have forgotten how winters use to be?

Amie said...

My mom, born and raised in Ohio, lives in southern Alabama and was more than a little upset by the 20-degree temps they had. I guess she's gone soft! In my opinion, anything below freezing is annoying. Stay warm, everybody!

Khaye said...

It's too cold in your place... in the Philippines we're complaining on the hot weather!