# You Embarrass Me: Winter in Virginia **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 19, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884 "2009-12-19T20:43:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/21 "2009-12-20T02:48:18Z")
Yeah, I don’t want to think about what would count as a legit snow day, and not only do I work in a resort town I work _at_ the resort! I’m told where my parents are the snow is up to their dog’s shoulders. More is falling. And while he is shortish for a lab he is not the shortest I’ve seen. Earlier he wanted somebody to come out with him and play with him when the snow was only up to his belly. Silly beast. I wish I was there to see him in it! ---
**Author:** ![MarkofT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MarkofT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkofT)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/22 "2009-12-20T03:50:14Z")
> [@emjaya](#): > > > [@enipla](#): > > > > I was in a tee-shirt and tennis shoes. > > No pants? :eek: 😃 That’s why they called 911. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/23 "2009-12-20T04:05:02Z")
Huh, I come from the Unhappiest State in the USA - New York (central part) where mailboxes have been buried under snow and the DPW yells at you for throwing the snow you shovel from your driveway out into the road (but where else can you possibly put it???) Other than that, they keep up with the plowing and sanding starting at 5 a.m. to give people a fighting chance of getting to work. Driving in winter SUCKS whether it’s 2 inches or 2 feet and I’ve never gotten used to it. For you people who got dumped on, I’m not laughing and you have my sympathy. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/24 "2009-12-20T05:08:29Z")
I love these threads - panic in the streets and mass hysteria over a snowstorm is always entertaining. 😃 (Yeah, I know, people not prepared for it/don’t have systems in place etc. - it was -30ºC here for two weeks already this year. Throw me a frickin’ bone.) ---
**Author:** ![Mehitabel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8797f3/32.png) [@Mehitabel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mehitabel)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/25 "2009-12-20T05:16:34Z")
The damn county snowplows took out my little brother’s mailbox when they got about six inches two weekends ago. He called in and got told the country wasn’t responsible for paying for it. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/26 "2009-12-20T05:50:18Z")
I could just imagine what it would be like if it rains here, in L.A. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/27 "2009-12-20T06:04:34Z")
I lived in the frozen north for 35 years and saw all sorts of - uh - interesting approaches to driving in snow - 1. The lady who spun out in the number one lane so her car was facing backwards to the flow of traffic, and just stayed there. Several of us stopped with our flashers on while a man got her car to the shoulder for her. 2. The lady who drove into a snowbank on a mountain pass at some point and just stayed there, with her car running until I happened to notice her as I drove by at 2 am. When I stopped at find out why there were taillights looking at me from the wall of snow in the median, I found a blonde wearing a mink, mini skirt and FM heels in a big Cadillac. Lord only knows how long she’d been there, but she was almost out of gas by the time I came along. 3. The poor person who slammed on their brakes at the wrong time, skidded across four lanes and took a header off a bridge into Lake Union. 4. Driving across the border from Oregon to California in a 4WD Jeep with four studded tires and the CHP telling me I had to buy chains in order to be allowed into the state. Uh, no. After being warned that “they weren’t going to come save” my silly female butt when I got stuck, I drove south to find only occasional small patches of snow - WTF CHP? 5. Of course, I had my moments as well, such as the time I was driving along a back road and discovered the road dipped but the snow didn’t and buried the car up to the windows…😃 > [@tr0psn4j](#): > > ``` > I could just imagine what it would be like if it rains here, in L.A. > > ``` Um, it did. Last week. A whole lot. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/28 "2009-12-20T06:21:15Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > I could just imagine what it would be like if it rains here, in L.A. As my nick implies, that’s where I’m from. In my rather considerable experience on L.A. freeways, Left Seat Passengers (they’re not really driving – they just happen to be sitting in the left seat) become _Braindead_ Left Seat Passengers. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/29 "2009-12-20T06:23:28Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I love these threads - panic in the streets and mass hysteria over a snowstorm is always entertaining. 😃 (Yeah, I know, people not prepared for it/don’t have systems in place etc. - it was -30ºC here for two weeks already this year. Throw me a frickin’ bone.) We all have our own skill sets. Let’s see _your_ town deal with 100,000 protestors! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/30 "2009-12-20T06:37:02Z")
> [@curlcoat](#): > > Um, it did. Last week. A whole lot. :dubious: I need to get out of the house more apparently. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/31 "2009-12-20T06:49:39Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > We all have our own skill sets. Let’s see _your_ town deal with 100,000 protestors! 😛 Does [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_G-20_Pittsburgh_summit#Protests) count? ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/32 "2009-12-20T07:15:25Z")
According to news reports, Virginia has had 4,000+ crashes and stranded cars. Maryland has called out the National Guard, and a State of Emergency has been declared in West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, and Maryland. I suppose everywhere else has good drivers (of snow plows). The reason people clear the grocery stores is that this stuff will be on the streets forever. Pipes will freeze and people will need drinking water. Limbs will break off of trees onto electrical wires and leave people without electricity (including heat) for three weeks. What was the price on those beets? But those days when there is just a little bit of snow in the South are the best days. Everything stops and it gets quiet. People just give themselves a break and find out that the world won’t come to an end if they aren’t working. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/33 "2009-12-20T07:58:07Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > I need to get out of the house more apparently. Yeah, if you missed knowing that storm went thru you really do! Or, at least dial to Fox news… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/34 "2009-12-20T09:04:41Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > I love these threads - panic in the streets and mass hysteria over a snowstorm is always entertaining. 😃 (Yeah, I know, people not prepared for it/don’t have systems in place etc. - it was -30ºC here for two weeks already this year. Throw me a frickin’ bone.) Bah ! Pussy. -30 is a hot day in [Oymyakon](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZjfScL_wRE&feature=player_embedded) ! ---
**Author:** ![Tinkertoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f19dbf/32.png) [@Tinkertoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinkertoy)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/35 "2009-12-20T10:13:27Z")
> [@Zoe](#): > > The reason people clear the grocery stores is that this stuff will be on the streets forever. Pipes will freeze and people will need drinking water. Limbs will break off of trees onto electrical wires and leave people without electricity (including heat) for three weeks. Growing up in a small farm in the Rockies we were always prepared for these situations. Now I live in town but still have my winter emergency kit put together by the end of October. It just boggles my mind that people don’t keep enough food on hand to last a few days. But then I was raised in Mormon country and everybody had their storage. Oh and the only time we had to worry about our pipes freezing is if we dawdled on our way to the outhouse. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/36 "2009-12-20T14:10:44Z")
Preparation? We don’t need no stinking preparation! Just ignore it and it’ll go away! I better get my butt to the grocery store to buy milk and other white products…whether I need it, or not! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/37 "2009-12-20T14:42:42Z")
For the most part, it looks worse than it is. My street is already completely clear and I’ve seen cars driving by this morning. I have to shovel the walk and dig out my car in the back, but surprisingly we won’t be stranded. I was out yesterday, and there were cars getting stuck in the snow. Apparently the hill on 14th became impassable in the afternoon. We got some Christmas shopping out at the Target since we figured no one would be out. ---
**Author:** ![DianaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ab992/32.png) [@DianaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DianaG)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/38 "2009-12-20T16:23:59Z")
> [@mhendo](#): > > Yeah, people go pretty crazy when big snowfalls come to cities that don’t often get them. When i lived in Baltimore, weather reports predicting anything more than a couple of inches of snow generally set off mad hoarding at the supermarkets. People go crazy in towns that DO often get big storms. I live in Boston, and I went out yesterday to get some last minute Christmas shopping done. I figured the stores would be mobbed, but they really weren’t. Except the grocery store. The grocery store was, to quote Buffy, “more like a riot than a Ralph’s”. All I needed was some supplies for dinner, some milk, and some cat food, and I was there for nearly an hour. What the hell, people? This is not the frontier, we’re not going to be snowed in for a month. Hell, we’re all gonna have to get up and go into work on Monday. What with the 20lb bags of rice and carts full of bottled water? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/39 "2009-12-20T16:37:27Z")
> [@Tinkertoy](#): > > Growing up in a small farm in the Rockies we were always prepared for these situations. Now I live in town but still have my winter emergency kit put together by the end of October. . Of course you were always prepared because heavy snowfall always happens there. Do you really think you would make yearly preparations for a snow event that happens about once every 15 years? ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884/40 "2009-12-20T16:53:03Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I came across two girls on our road one time while they were stuck in their rental car. One girl threw up because she was so sure she was gonna DIE in the ‘wilderness’ (a mile walk to a state highway). You do not know how funny this is. > [@commasense](#): > > I’ve lived in Maryland all my life, and I’ve found that there are two kinds of drivers around here when it comes to snow: > > The idiots who think that no matter what the conditions are, they can drive exactly the way they always do. > > And the jerks who think that as soon as they see one flake of snow they have to slow down to five miles an hour, even if it’s so warm that the streets are merely damp. > > When these two types get together, it’s not pretty. Sounds like Minnesota, where we have six-month-winters that tend to include (gasp!) snow, yet no one seems to be able to figure it out. Funniest thing is Minnesota is not one of those states people tend to move _to_ (unless you are stupid, and are me). Everyone here is from here, and yet… > [@tr0psn4j](#): > > I could just imagine what it would be like if it rains here, in L.A. Ah, Los Angeles, where when it drizzles, people lose their shit. I’m going back later this week; I can’t wait to listen to everyone cry about how the temperatures dropped to 50 degrees _at night during winter_, and a droplet of water on the ground has been spotted. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-embarrass-me-winter-in-virginia/521884.md?page=3)