SnowJam 2014 - Grateful For All The Helpers

30 day blog challenge - day 16

Photo from the AJC

As most of you probably know by now, the entire metro Atlanta area is experiencing a Snow Jam. It's snowmageddon out there. Now, it's true that we only got 2.6" of snow yesterday, which may seem like nothing to you Northerners. However, let's also keep in mind that we pretty much have NO preparations in place to deal with this in Atlanta because it doesn't happen often enough for it to make financial sense for us to invest in these things. Also, yesterday morning, everything was normal so many people went to their jobs. School wasn't cancelled either. (There was, however, snow in the forecast, but no one was predicting it would be this bad.)

When the snow started coming down and roads started icing over yesterday afternoon, everyone left work and school at the same time. This resulted in many vehicles not being able to get around on the icy roads and other major highways and roads being completely JAMMED UP with traffic and stalled vehicles for HOURS. I have heard horror stories of people taking 8, 10, even 16 hours to get home in commutes that typically take 30 minutes to an hour. My dad was one of the lucky ones. His commute usually takes him around an hour with normal rush hour traffic, and he got home in 4 hours. I was even luckier in that yesterday happened to be one of my freelance from home days. (I have a "day job" three days a week, and the other two days, I do freelance work.) 

After hearing all of the horror stories of people who were stranded at gas stations or grocery stores all night, students and teachers who were stranded at schools where busses were unable to take them home, and motorists stuck in their cars in the traffic ALL NIGHT (some of which are STILL on the road), I couldn't help but be grateful for the fact that I was safe in my parents' house with my parents, my brother, and my cats. As I was scrolling through my social media, I also couldn't help but be touched by all of the stories I was seeing.

Nearly everyone on my friends page was offering their home as shelter to those who were stranded near them. My church, Unity North, was open to motorists, and they were serving coffee, food, and giving people a place to wait it out. My dad told me how people were all helping each other push vehicles so they could get past the hills. There were even people in our neighborhood going door to door collecting hot chocolate and other helpful items to give to stranded drivers. 

So I just wanted to take a second to write about my gratitude. I am grateful to live in a city where people are willing to help each other. (Although, I think that people in any city would have done the same. You always hear these types of stories in situations like these.) And to anyone still stranded, I hope that you eventually get home safely! Hopefully, next time this happens, we will err on the side of caution and not expect our students and employees to go to work and school!

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