Adult's Get Snowed on Snow Days

We woke up to a dusting of ice crystals and the news that school was, indeed, canceled. You know...lest any young thing slip and fall on said ice crystal dusting and sue the county. So, now I am dealing with two extremely hyper kids who should otherwise be in school, not enough snow to play in and 16-degree windy weather -- so they wouldn't even be able to play in the ice crystal dust even if I wanted them to.

JAO felt that the truck would be a better mode of transportation than the car given the new frozen tundra terrain that we woke up to. See, he still has to go to work today because, well, the county didn't grant a Snow Day adults. They never do I am learning. (No wonder my mother was not nearly as excited about Snow Days as we were!) Anyway, so now I am watching JAO go back and forth from the truck to the kitchen sink, carrying cups of warm water outside trying in vain to melt the ice around the door frame enough so that he can get into the truck.

Oh...I just heard the car start up. Good luck out there, dear!

Sigh. Now I have to entertain these kids. Again! Didn't I just have to take care of them for the two-and-a-half week Christmas break?! This was supposed to be my week of freedom!

Stupid ice-filled crystal dust.

Well, here's an entry I wrote back in 2000 that also talks about being an adult on Snow Days. It has a happy ending. But, then, again, I didn't have children then. Heh, heh.

Enjoy.



Snow Day!
December 20, 2000

It snowed in Atlanta yesterday. For residents of this city, this is a big 'ole winter deal. The Georgia DOT only owns two snow plows and one of them doesn't work, so a handful of flakes will completely shut this city down.

And I love it! As someone who grew up in the south, snow is a rare and blessed event. And along with the snow comes the most rare and blessed event of all -- the glorious Snow Day!

Ah, the childhood memories. The thrilling anticipation of waking up to snow (or ice or slush or whatever you want to call our version of a "wintery mix"), and being filled with the anxious excitement felt only by a child who is waiting to hear those three wonderful words...school is closed. Huddled half-dressed in front of the television watching the long list of school closings flash across the screen, praying with all your little child might that your county will be blessed by the benevolent Great Get Out of School Free God. You can almost hear the cry of joy rising up over the snow with each new announcement as the kids in that particular county celebrate in unison the glory that is a Snow Day. Knowing the counties are listed in alphabetical order, you hold your breath as your county approaches. Will it be there? Oh, God, please, please let it be there! The "Cs"....Cobb (all right, be calm -- they're pretty close to you, if they are out you may be as well)....The "Ds"....Dekalb (oooh, you hate it when they get out and you don't)....The "Fs"....Fulton (those lucky jerks)....and finally....your little kid heart provides the drum roll....The "Gs"....GWINNETT!! Oh, Hosanna!! The rest of the day will feel magical simply because, no matter what you do, you're not doing it at school!

That ritual is almost as exciting as the rest of the day playing in the snow. It was the memory of that which I found myself waking up to yesterday. For one brief moment I was overjoyed at the prospect that no matter what I did that day, I wouldn't be doing it at school. I raced to the television and turned on the local news. Scenes of snow-covered lawns, icy tree branches, flurries of white gold floating on the air filled the screen. And, in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, the continuously updated list of school closings. As I saw all the counties I used to watch so closely flash across the screen I was filled with that same little kid rapture I felt so many years before. The Great Get Out of School Free God had blessed the entire city!

And then I remembered.

I do not go to school.

I live in the World of Adults now.

And this world does not honor Snow Days.

This world sucks monkeys.

So, I found myself standing in the parking lot of my apartment complex scraping ice and snow off my car's windshield with a spatula (because only adults have real ice scrapers) and cursing the fact that I had to be at work on a frickin' Snow Day! I tried to appreciate the beauty of this newly transformed winter wonderland, but all I could think about what the fact that no matter what I did that day I would be doing it at work.

Only one other person in my department had made it into the office when I arrived. The others had either called or emailed to say they wouldn't be coming in. Apparently the only working snow plow had not yet reached their area of town. I thought, well, hell. This is what I get for living so close to my office.

But then, just as I turned on my computer and prepared myself to face this wintery holiday imprisoned inside my cube, I received a Winter Miracle. The disembodied voice of the building's receptionist came over the intercom and, like the Angel of the Lord who announced to the shepherds that their savior had been born, announced that due to increasingly bad road conditions the office would be closing...and could we all please leave immediately.

I couldn't believe it. The Great Get Out of Work Free God had blessed me. I...an Adult...was given a Snow Day after all!

And then I realized something else. Not only was I an adult who was given a Snow Day, I was an adult with money who could also drive and was given a Snow Day. Ah ha! It never happened this way when I was in school!

So, I did what any other adult with money who could drive who was given a Snow Day would do. I went to Old Navy. And for the rest of the day, I celebrated the fact that no matter what I was doing, I wasn't doing it at work