You Know What’s Wrong With This Snow?

 

Stubborn. Yep, that must be it. Why didn’t I think of that?

Crews still working to move stubborn snow 11 days after storm, Snow mounds pile up in neighborhoods amid frigid temps, Jack Watson, WMAR 2 News

If you are wondering why all that snow is still in your way, friends, the answer is clear: it’s just stubborn.

I’ve seen stubborn used for mules, schoolchildren that aren’t compliant, and, of course, laundry stains. (I grew up in an era where advertisers thought that all women wanted was “to get rid of stubborn stains.”)

Snow? Stubborn? It has just as much agency as laundry stains.

If you’ve been trying to shovel this stuff, that was your first mistake. You need a tool that eradicates stubbornness. 

What would that be exactly?

This sentence from the WMAR 2 News piece is both hilarious and cringe-worthy somehow:

Tim Gibson broke out the shovel yet again, hoping the sun would do him a solid and get all the snow to liquid.

But it does give a hint to our current situation and it has nothing to do with anthropomorphic white stuff. It’s just plain science.

That stuff that’s in our way is ice. If you expect that it can be removed like ordinary snow then you’re the one who’s stubborn. 

Strictly speaking, one can use the word stubborn for inanimate objects although it’s far down the list of uses. 

But calling this stuff “stubborn snow” is rather like calling a student stubborn for calling out in class (instead of raising their hand) when they actually have a broken arm. It’s sheer disregard for the facts. One might even say “stubborn disregard.”

It’s ice. It’s in the way. It’s making many activities less safe. It made it extremely difficult to get schools reopened. It’s blocking all kinds of things. I get that. I hate it already.

But acting as though local governments’ response* to this storm was a poor response to a manageable problem is, well, a stubborn refusal to get up close and personal with the evidence. 

You can’t blow it, shovel it, Hoover it up, or even push it around all that well. Got a pickaxe? Maybe your stubborn determination could be put to good use. 

A Village Green/Town² shout out (otherwise known as a HoCo Holler!) to local entrepreneur Antonio Artis and his team at Dream Auto Detailing who have been digging people out while the weather has put their auto detailing jobs on hold. 

You might want to give them a call once this is all over. I bet they are looking forward to warmer days and making cars look beautiful. 

Village Green/Town² Comments

*It’s not just a HoCo thing. Counties all around us are struggling with this, too.