SNOWBOUND

I am a Yankee, and proud of it. I didn't even realize that it was an insult until college. I'm still not positive that it is, although I do know people who use the word (or fear to use it) as if it were one. I don't see it that way. I used to make fun of my friends from Texas who lit up anytime their state ever came up in conversation. I stopped teasing them when I realized I do the same thing whenever someone mentions New England. I pretend to be all knowledgeable about the North ("The Presidential Range? Yeah, I know the area... Boston? Great city....") and act offended when people express ignorance of the region. Although, to be honest, I have received some dubious questions that maybe deserved the disdain (for instance, I should point out that New England is not one of the fifty states since I have gotten that question a few times).

Beyond the lip-service I pay to the region where I grew up, there are a few areas of my life where my Yankeeness makes itself known through my actions more than my words. For instance, country music. I have spent the last five years of my life south of the Mason-Dixon line. I have dated or had serious crushes on several girls who really dug country music. I've lived with people who owned it. I still cannot bring myself to listen to it for any great period of time (great period of time being defined as more than two songs). I have learned to tolerate it when others choose it (and that is the fault of various females in my life more than anything else) but when I have a choice, I'll change the channel. Even when I'm trying not to (for her sake), I tend to forget and change it anyway. It's just not for me (and even if, craziest of crazy thoughts, I did happen to enjoy an occasional song from the genre I would never admit it...)

Another area where it becomes apparent that I am a Yank is winter. I like winter. I love being out in the snow. I know which kind is best for snowballs and snowmen, and which kind is best for whitewashes (if you don't know what that is, ask me sometime and I'll show you). I know which sleds to use on which days. I love cross country skiing (common response: who would ever want to ski sideways!?!?). I know how best to shovel a driveway (oh do I ever know how to shovel a flippin' driveway), and I will probably never fail to point this out to you if we ever start talking about snow (like here for instance). I know how to drive in snow. More importantly, I know when NOT to drive in snow.

This is something a lot of people in the DC area do not appear to know. This weekend dumped over a foot and a half of snow on the areas hit the lightest. Up to two feet or more in the harder hit areas. There have been a surprising number of accidents in the past few days. The natives are surprised that snow can cause that many accidents. I am surprised that so many people were dumb enough to try driving in it. A man nearby dug out his driveway so his car, a Honda Civic, could get purchase. A good idea. The bad idea came when he tried to drive into the street where there was still about sixteen inches of snow. My roommate helped push him back into his driveway.

The newspeople don't seem to know what to do with the weather either. I watched one reporter stationed at an airport. She managed to get the relevant information across pretty quickly: this one is shut down, that one has one runway open but call first before trying to catch a flight. Then the snow shock got to her. She started explaining what it was like to be waiting at the airport in the snowstorm. "There are a lot of people here, sitting, resting. Some people are reading books to pass the time. They're trying to go all sorts of places - Florida, California, Kansas, I even spoke to one person who wanted to go to Europe!" Wow. So that's what an airport is like in a snowstorm, huh? She, at least, was smart enough not to try to go anywhere else for a while.

I'll tell you this, in New England, we know what to do with snowstorms like this one. I'll give you a hint, it involves hot chocolate and a snowfort or two. It does not involve driving.