Last night, betweeen 1 and 3 A.M. about a foot fell over the five bouroughs (another ten inches to come today). After waking early and determining that I would not have to go to work, I turned on NY1. Joel Klein, New York City School Chancellor sounds despondent. After "deliberation deep into the night," Joel and co. chose to close schools, a thing that's happened twice in the past 20 years (for much larger blizzards). Evidently people in Manhattan are miffed, because this is really an outerbourough and commuter issue. The Staten Island Ferry is closed; there are train delays and suspensions, tricky bridges. I find this dourness and uncertainty really nutty, because in Memphis, literally everything shuts down at the least sight of snow, our school-closers quick-to-action, our citizens happy. So, Pat Kiernan (who gets dishier with each repeated news segment) is surprised that schools are closed, but I'm not. Snow days are made for pausing. And, in the first week of March, we are SICK of winter, and none are equipped to trudge and argue with it.
Mar 2, 2009
Snow Day
Last night, betweeen 1 and 3 A.M. about a foot fell over the five bouroughs (another ten inches to come today). After waking early and determining that I would not have to go to work, I turned on NY1. Joel Klein, New York City School Chancellor sounds despondent. After "deliberation deep into the night," Joel and co. chose to close schools, a thing that's happened twice in the past 20 years (for much larger blizzards). Evidently people in Manhattan are miffed, because this is really an outerbourough and commuter issue. The Staten Island Ferry is closed; there are train delays and suspensions, tricky bridges. I find this dourness and uncertainty really nutty, because in Memphis, literally everything shuts down at the least sight of snow, our school-closers quick-to-action, our citizens happy. So, Pat Kiernan (who gets dishier with each repeated news segment) is surprised that schools are closed, but I'm not. Snow days are made for pausing. And, in the first week of March, we are SICK of winter, and none are equipped to trudge and argue with it.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Seriously, I think the schools closing today has a lot more to do with the economy and the fact that the city can't pay the Sanitation Dept the amount of overtime they get for shit like this. Schools closed exactly once during my 13 year tenure as a public school student and that was the blizzard of '96.
The other reason schools don't close so often here is because we have a disproportionate number of working single parents who are fucked on a snow day.
Anyway, I'm going sledding if you want to meet up.
sledding where?!
We had a "blizzard" down here this weekend... even the bars closed, it was depressing... I had to walk to work in it the next day, which was even more depressing... we are not equipped down here.
dude--pillow told me about the bar closing at 8:30, what a travesty?!
Post a Comment