It took me 5 hours to get home from work last night. 5 HOURS for a drive that typically takes me 45 mins in the morning and an hour in the evening. 5 HOURS!
Now I know people in the south say they don't have experience driving in the snow, but they also say "This happens every year when it snows." How can you then say you don't have experience if this happens every year. Granted the snow is not on the ground for 4-5 months like it is back in OH but you still get it!
Here is the reason people can't drive in the snow... They don't go out and learn. They make an attempt to get to the grocery store to get bread, milk, and water (for the 2-3 days that there will be snow on the roads) but they will not attempt to learn how to operate their vehicle under snowy conditions.
Northerners are not born with the ability to drive in the snow, they learn. Can the skill be learned over time by the occasional drive to the store, maybe, but I think the only way to learn is to go to an empty parking lot (there are alot of them around given that everyone is locked up in their homes) and make those sharp turns, slam on your breaks, do a donut and LEARN how to recover without killing yourself and the car.
I watched people try to drive up a hill, freak out because their car slid SLIGHTLY while the tires tried to find a spot to grip, instead of correcting the wheel the driver STOPPED, just stopped in the middle of the hill in sheer panic....the car was now stuck. The only other option was to go back down the hill in reverse however, there was a two mile line of cars behind it... This happened on almost every road I drove on. Thank goodness I had a wing man who could pull up a map and direct us away from the city, onto back country roads to the highway and home.
Yes, I was driving an all wheel drive vehicle but that really has little to do with your ability to drive smart in snowy weather. I had to help this woman who pulled the above stunt of stopping in the middle of a hill. She was blocking the way from anyone going around her, she was now side ways in the road. I told her what to do while she gave it a bit of gas and me and two other guys pushed the back of the car. The car would not move. I backed away from the car and told her to give it another go, I wanted to see what she was doing with the wheel and what was spinning - NOTHING was spinning... SHE HAD HER PARKING BREAK ON!!!! I tried so hard to not get irritated and told her to release her parking break and then try it again.. with a little rocking back and forth of the wheel and the release of her break she was unstuck and on her way... It got to the point where Rik would start the intro's with "She's from OH"...and then we would offer assistance.
The commute home was not without it's entertainment though. We needed gas and were in this very small town with one gas station (or so we thought). I pumped the gas while Rik went inside to get some snacks and use the restroom, we were still hours away from home. After I was done with the gas I walked inside and asked the lady behind the counter if there was a restroom. She looked at me and said "well there is a toilet in the back". I begged her pardon and she said "well go down that hall and you will see a closet, in that closet there is a toilet". Rik and I looked at each other and said, thanks but no thanks. The hall way was dark and I am a bit leery of toilets in the closet.
The commute back into work was just better. We saw alot of abandoned cars. People just said "fuck it" and left their cars on the side of the road, or in the middle of it. Maybe I should open up a driving school, bu then again there has to be a willingness to learn for that to work.
I had to get all this out before I started my work day. Got here an hour and half early. Was anticipating a longer commute.
Have a great day Clevelanders! Stay warm, I here it's cold there today! See you all soon!
