In the time-honoured tradition of Marathon Talk, (http://www.marathontalk.com/) this chapter contains a rant and a rave.
Rant
The snow is here. It’s beautiful and sparkly and delightful… and it’s brought out the whingers. Sorry folks, but it has to be said. Here are my five most-hated whinges.
- Why don’t they clear all the side roads/my road/the pavement?
Coming from an academic background, I treat all questions as requests for information. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a genuine question (“Please can I have a flapjack?”) or a rhetorical one (“Why on earth is Anne Widdecombe still on Strictly?”), there is something in me that believes I have to give an answer, even if that answer is; “Well, duh, because we won’t pay for it.”
There is a finite amount of money, and an almost infinite number of good things one could do with it. Therefore, some good things will not get done. It’s either grit or libraries or meals-on-wheels. Buy yourself a shovel.
- If you clear the snow outside your house, and someone falls, they can sue you
Well, they can try, but unless you have caused an obstruction (by throwing your snow onto the neighbour’s bit of pavement) or a hazard (by pouring water on the snow, so that it ices over), they won’t succeed. Clear your paths, people, and then we can all get through.
- They don’t have these problems in Finland/Sweden/Norway/Chicago
No, they don’t. You’re right. This is because they have a lot more snow, and therefore they spend a lot more of their citizens’ money on clearing it. Their snowploughs are in use for half the year, and earn their keep. Ours are in warm storage for all but about four weeks, creating headlines like “Councils waste taxpayers’ funds on unused equipment”. They also have bye-laws requiring householders to clear the pavements.
- I was in nose-to-tail traffic for four hours yesterday, and I never saw a single snowplough.
Well no, you wouldn’t. They couldn’t get past you.
- If I was in charge, I could sort it all out in about three days
Please, please, stand for election. Whatever your politics, get involved. The council needs your expertise.
Rave
The snow is here. It’s beautiful and sparkly and delightful… and it’s brought out the happy people. Here are six lovely things I’ve seen this week.
- Two middle-aged women sledging on the Chevin, sans enfants
When I first caught sight of these two, it was from behind. It was only when I overtook them that I realised they were about my age. Stupidly, I didn’t go back and ask if I could play.
- A bunch of students building a barricade in a garden on Otley Rd
Boy, did this take me back. At primary school, we spent hours making barricades in the snow, so that we could have proper snowball fights. Usually, by the time we’d built the barricade, playtime was over, and by the following day, the snow was gone.
- Richard and Abinesh running in Headingley
I run through Headingley most weeks, either with runclub or on my way to work. I’ve never seen anyone bounding around there with such vim and joie-de-vivre.
- All of my team turning up for work
There were massive gaps at the office, but every single member of my team got in, despite having travelled (separately) from Roundhay, Silsden, Addingham and Sheffield .
- Chris clearing the drive
If you’ve made it this far, you will have gathered that I have a bit of a thing about clearing your own snow. But even I pale into insignificance beside Chris, who has been up every day at 6.00 to clear the drive so I can get to work. His shovelling is a joy to behold.
- Harry going off to do his paper round.
Three of the things Harry hates most are getting up, going for a walk, and doing things according to someone else’s timetable. So delivering papers in the snow is not exactly his most favourite thing. None-the-less, he delivered. Respect.
The keen-eyed amongst you will notice there are more raves than rants. Sparkly snow can do that to a girl.
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