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Thursday, December 18, 2008

There are (s)no(w) rules when it snows

It snows here every year. I live in the Midwest, so you expect it to snow a little. And when I say a little, I mean several inches that won't melt until the middle of spring. Which is to say, usually it snows quite a bit during the winter months. And sometimes a little bit during the autumn months. Which is to say that people in the Midwest are not new to driving in snow. However, this year I have seen so many people act like they have never even seen snow before this winter let alone driven in it.

He might be cute, but he has no idea how to drive in snow.

It reminds me of the movie Gremlins. You know, when the cute little guy gets wet and spawns a race of a-hole, not cute gremlins. Only in this case the snow causes drivers who are normally perfectly responsible and safe drivers to suddenly forget everything they ever learned about driving ever and morph into a-hole drivers that run red lights and drive like speed racer on streets that are likely to be coated in black ice.

Please people, when it is snowing or sleeting or when it's freezing rain outside, please for the love of God drive under the speed limit. When you spin out on black ice because you were going 50 MPH to get home in time for dinner, you will be home WAY LATER than if you had driven like a sensible person and made it home a little later than normal minus the whole spinning out thing. Also, JUST BECAUSE there is snow on the ground does not mean that you get to run a red light due to the fact that the people in front of you are going slow. If you are out in the intersection when it turns yellow, fine. But if you are still turning left when the light for the straight people turns green that is NOT OK. And you do not need to keep rolling forward so that you are in the middle of the intersection when the light turns, ok? Sitting at the line like the rest of us while we wait for the other drivers to take their turns will not kill you and will not cause you to be so late to where ever you are going that the world will end. The roads are crappy - no one will fault you for driving slowly and carefully. I am pretty sure that the person you are going to see would rather you get there alive than have you spin out into a ditch and die.

And ... end rant. I just wish people would use their brains when they drive in bad weather. It makes me so sad to listen to the news and hear about all the car accidents that happen on the highway because some idiot decided to drive way too fast.

On a lighter note, CHRISTMAS IS ALMOST HERE! How is your shopping coming? I have a lot I still have to do (which is weird because usually I am totally done at the beginning of November) but I am going on a mass shopping trip on Thursday. Unless we get hit with the ice storm that we are supposed to be hit with. Because if that happens I will be staying home, working from the recliner in front of the fire and drinking obscene amounts of hot chocolate.

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