If underwhelmed isn't a real world, it ought to be. Because that's how I felt this morning after looking outside to find about half as much snow as was forecast, then having Twitter inform me that many people were staying home from work and most schools were closed for the day. Although I'm not nearly old enough to start a sentence with "when I was young", I will anyway: when I was young, 20 - 30 cm of snow was considered a moderate amount of snow, not "Snowmageddon". From my undergraduate days in Montreal I still have fond memories of writing December final exams during real storms - and getting there on time after leaving extra early, because that's what you do when you live in a city that experiences cold, snowy winters! Only the 1998 Ice Storm brought Montreal to a halt, making a typical snow storm look much less threatening. Face it, Toronto: just because you no longer call the army for help doesn't mean you've learned how to suck it up when it comes to snow.
So in honour of a weather event that is being taken way too seriously - and because if we're going to call this a snow day, then I'm taking the day off from writing a real blog post - I bring you an old spoof video of a CBC National Special Report: Snow in Toronto.
As a native of Eastern Ontario, only a stone's throw from Montreal, I heartily agree. I was a student at the University of Ottawa during the Ice Storm of 98. Freezing rain for 4 days straight that snapped trees and power lines like they were matchsticks. I had a normally 50 minute drive into the university from a rural area and chose to stay with friends in the city so that I could take the bus.
ReplyDeleteThe University of Ottawa closed for the first time in its (at that time) 125 year history. The University only did this as the city had declared a state of emergency due to so many power lines being down and was canceling the city bus service.
I am surprised that so many schools and universities closed yesterday, in areas where they only had winter storm warnings, not even blizzard warnings. Here along the St. Lawrence River at we received between 20 and 30 cm of snow and school buses were canceled but schools were still open so it wasn't a day off for teachers or students that walk and we had far more more snow than Toronto!
I'm not surprised that other parts of the province took this less seriously!
ReplyDeleteWalking and transiting around town today, everything was business as usual. If I hadn't known about the storm, I would have thoughts the streets looked pretty typical for early February. Life goes on...