Panic in Washington

Perhaps my title for today's blog is a bit misleading. I'm sure that people searching for political blogs or blogs on the latest National Intelligence Estimate on Iran or a blog on the latest mis-statement by a political candidate for the 2008 Presidential Election will be disappointed but the purpose of my blog is to discuss the real cause for panic today in Washington and that's the weather. People hit hard by snow in Colorado and up north in New England probably enjoy laughing it up when they come down here to see just how much we panic but I think part of the reason is because of the type of town Washington is.

It's a long held notion that when snow is in the forecast for the DC area, the entire area gets in a tizzy. You tend to avoid the grocery stores because some people stock up on toilet paper, bread and milk. Suddenly the entire town acts as if it's going to a prison or something based on the menu and personal items they hit hard. I have never understood the need to stock up on these particular items in greater quantities. I can understand if Washington was located in Anchorage, Alaska where it's possible for several feet of snow to fall or in parts of New York which were hit so hard this year that they couldn't leave their home for weeks on end. Still, here in DC we haven't had a storm that bad in a long while. This storm that is currently hitting our area is no different. I guess maybe part of the reason is because people have lost faith in their forecasters.

I have lost faith in forecasters; or perhaps that's not quite accurate. I have learned to take what they predict with a wink and a smile. It's been my experience that when they call for two feet of snow, we'll very likely only get 2 inches. When they call for a few inches, we'll get a few feet. If the snow is supposed to last until noon and then the sun will come out, it will end up snowing for several days. Today's storm was no different. Before going to bed last night I checked the news one mroe time and heard the same thing that they had confidently been beating into our heads the whole day in anticipation of the storm and that was that any and all snow would accumulate on the grassy areas and not on the roads. Lo and behold, a fine layer of snow had covered up all the roadways from my house to the office. Big surprise huh?

Speaking of driving, I think that's part of the reason for the panic too. I don't think it's quite so much a fear of driving in the snow as it is having overconfidence in one's ability to drive in the snow. For example, watch TV around this time of year and you'll be innundated with endless commercials for SUV's blazing new trails through tons of snow with no trouble whatsoever. They love to make commercials that tout the rugged durability of their trucks by showing off everything from it's off-road capability to it's towing capacity to it's ability to go through snow banks like a hot knife through lukewarm butter. The reality is that drivers here and across the nation are not 'trained drivers on closed tracks' driving specially modified trucks. Sure your 4x4 may be able to tackle everything in commercials but if you don't buy the 4-wheel drive option on an SUV your SUV goes from being an SUV to being a V.

I can't think of the number of times I've seen daredevil drivers in SUVs zipping through traffic like nobody's business even in the worst of conditions. I guess they figure that if the truck can do it in commercials then it can do it in real life too. One thing they tend to forget or ignore is the fact that when driving in snow, okay a 4x4 is good but when you hit ice? You may as well drive straight into a ditch and save the trouble of eating humble pie later. I passed at least three or four SUVs spun out on the side of the road today and one more that was flipped over in a ditch. When I was stopped at a stop light this morning I was passed by a speeding jeep that then quickly zipped onto the highway. I shook my head in awe that someone would drive that way with the roads being a bit slick. About ten minutes later I hit a spot of slow traffic (the first of many I'd see this morning) and there was one car which had run into the side retaining wall and in front of it, spun out was the same jeep. Oops.

People around here tend to have the memory of a piece of cabbage. It's not the first time snow has fallen in this area and it will undoubtedly not be the last. So then why is it that every time the weather turns a bit nasty people either speed up to show that they're unafraid of the conditions or slow to a crawl becoming slow moving impediments to the flow of traffic? I want to do nothing more than drive my reserved pace and make it to the office on time. I know my car has rear-wheel drive and as such it takes a bit of different driving skill to maintain a steady course in bad weather. I've fishtailed with the best of them and I'm not interested in ending up with more damage than I can handle for my car. So then why people insist on trying to race me on the highway in the snow I'll never understand. Perhaps some of these insecure people driving their SUVs think that this is the one time they can outrun me? Well good for them... they'll still be in that ditch though when I pass them five minutes later.