First Test of the New Administration

It's still a few hours short of a week since President Obama was duly sworn in as the 44th President of the United States (the flub by Chief Justice Roberts notwithstanding) and despite having a spate of pending issues on tap at the outset of his new administration, he is already facing one of the most tribulating trials that any new presidential administration can face. It is the one trial which will prove once and for all whether the Obama administration will prove themselves to be worthy of Washington or whether they truly are 'outsiders' who have broken the Washingtonian chains that lead them to become the usual and mundane type of politician that everyone denies being. Yes. The true test is whether or not the administration will panic now that Washington is finally seeing the first snowfall of the season.

Now although President Obama himself is from Chicago where the type of snow we're seeing in Washington today would be considered a regular springtime occurence, here in Washington it takes on a whole new level. And although President Obama has been leaning towards using a DC license plate with the protest tag, "No Taxation without Representation" (which protests Washington's lack of representation in Congress) would have meant that Obama is a true Washingtonian, whether or not he panics is a true sign. Now I'm convinced that whether he does or not shouldn't reflect on his presidency but I do know that panicking in the face of snow (or even flurries) is something that most Washingtonians do.

However I'm also convinced it's because the ones who are doing the panicking for the most part are people who are relatively new to the area or come from parts of the country or the world where snow is actually spelled S-N-O and has the word cone after it. For these newbies to the area, snow is often seen as something akin to the apocalypse and it the real reason that we see a run on toilet paper, bread, milk and water whenever snow is predicted. Now the snowfall that is occurring today was predicted but this was about the fourth or fifth time this winter that snow as predicted and the last few times that that was the forecast, we ended up with relatively balmy temperatures and beautiful blue skies so people had been lulled into a sense of security and panic didn't set in as badly.

But now that snow is coming down and schools are closing, it's time for people to step up and show that true Washingtonian spirit by dividing themselves into two schools of driving. The first is where people wanting to be cautious err big time on the side of caution. Going the speed limit is fine but driving thirty miles below the speed limit in the left lane of the highway when roads are clear is dangerous but a necessity. The other school of driving states that you have to show how macho or confident in your driving ability (or lack thereof) and drive like the Devil is after you and as if snow and ice is no different than dry pavement on a sunny summer day. These are the usual people who cause accidents or end up upside-down in a ditch scratching their heads and pleading igonorance about why their supposedly-four-wheel-drive vehicle couldn't handle snow and ice the way it does in commercials.

Schools will close this time because of what happened in the area a few years ago when schools remained opened hoping for the best and students ended up stranded at school; some remaining there overnight. Now it's enough to get everyone into panic mode. Although I was delighted to see that Prince George's County maintains their fine tradition of laughing off snow and keeping schools open. For students like my brother and I who had to walk a couple of miles to school it was always appreciated when we had to walk through snow and then spend the entire day in cold and wet shoes only to walk home through it again at the end of the day. At least future generations going through school in the county like we did can share in that 'joy'. Oh well. I'm hoping that President Obama will truly chuckle and laugh at the panic. He appears to be a fresh take on the Presidency after a long time. Let's hope his reaction to snow in the Nation's Capital is no different.