If you watch the news, then you know yesterday we had snow in Atlanta. And you know all the roads -- highways, thoroughfares, side streets -- became a gummed-up mess. What I am about to write I am posting because I haven't heard anyone in the media point this out and it needs to be said. [Edit to add: Okay, now I've watched the evening news. Apparently, there are people in the newsrooms who own weather band radios. They noticed what I noticed.]
Yesterday's weather was accurately forecast 24-hours in advance.
Yes. That means on Monday, the National Weather Service was telling Atlantans we could see snow on Tuesday, that the snow would begin in the late morning, and that the accumulations would be one to three inches. What is shocking is that I knew this. I am usually the last person to have any clue about the weather. My approach is to look out the window and respond based on what I see. But somehow this time I knew enough to run some errands Monday evening, sleep, get up, finish the errands, and get back in the house before 11 AM on Tuesday. And I did.
In Mableton, the snow began falling about 11:50 AM. My car was in the garage. My bird feeder was filled. And the used knitter's cats and I were happily ensconced in our home.
I try to be fairly apolitical here on the blog, but it needs to be said: we all need to treat each other better. That means paying each other fairly, whether you are the boss or whether you are the customer. And that means thinking about each other ahead of time and, sometimes, ahead of the bottom line. Lots of people got stuck on the roads because they went in to work. Yesterday would have been a perfect moment for business leaders and/or political leaders to say, "Look, ya'all. There's a good chance we're in for a spell of weather. Stay home. Work from home. Forgive deadlines." Or for business leaders to make arrangements for their employees to have the day off with pay or have the day off and have some way of making up the work and pay at a near-future date. I'm sure many people got into travel trouble yesterday because they went into work; and they went into work because they felt they needed to (for whatever reason: need the pay, need to meet a deadline, need to be a team player).
To quote Marge Gunderson, the police officer in the movie Fargo:
"And for what? For a little bit of money. There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don'tcha know that? And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well. I just don't understand it."
Yesterday's weather was accurately forecast 24-hours in advance.
Yes. That means on Monday, the National Weather Service was telling Atlantans we could see snow on Tuesday, that the snow would begin in the late morning, and that the accumulations would be one to three inches. What is shocking is that I knew this. I am usually the last person to have any clue about the weather. My approach is to look out the window and respond based on what I see. But somehow this time I knew enough to run some errands Monday evening, sleep, get up, finish the errands, and get back in the house before 11 AM on Tuesday. And I did.
In Mableton, the snow began falling about 11:50 AM. My car was in the garage. My bird feeder was filled. And the used knitter's cats and I were happily ensconced in our home.
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| Vincent watching birds at the feeder as the snow falls. |
To quote Marge Gunderson, the police officer in the movie Fargo:
"And for what? For a little bit of money. There's more to life than a little money, you know. Don'tcha know that? And here ya are, and it's a beautiful day. Well. I just don't understand it."
Comments
I know a lot of people went to work because they needed to. To those whom much is given, much is expected. I'm very disappointed with our business leaders for doing such a poor job of protecting their employees. They need to have a mechanism in place so that employees can stay home in bad weather without fear of consequences at work. If you are earning double or triple than median income because you are in a position of power and leadership, then by golly I expect you to lead. And leading means you behave like a human being and treat people as more important than money.