There's No Business Like Snow Business?

 It's snowing in Piedmont North Carolina today. It snowed yesterday afternoon as well. We got about a whopping one inch of snow at my house. It didn't even completely cover the grass in the front yard. While we got snow, those to the east of us received the dreaded ice storm.

Civilization shuts down when it snows in North Carolina. The weather idiots on local television are breathlessly telling you not to go outside less you get stricken down by the snow gods. The only acceptable activity is to sit in front of the television while the "meteorologists" practice some kind of Vulcan mind melds on viewers. If they can keep you in front of the television set, you won't get hurt in some kind of snow related activity. Of course, the real risk is that your brain will turn to mush in front of the television set.

I ran Tex & Shirley's Family Restaurant in Greensboro for twenty-one years. The number of days that we closed for snow can be counted on one hand. On most snow days, we would open at 6:00 AM and then close in the early afternoon. There was no need to be open in the evening, the Carolina natives were hunkered down at home. 

Most of the employees could find a way to work in the morning. If not, a couple of us would go out and pick up employees and bring them to work. They stopped making them, but the Dodge Caravan was the best vehicle for hauling employees on snow days. The Caravan handled well in the snow, and you could carry several employees. I was always amazed that most of the people who I picked up in the morning found another way home when they got off from work in the afternoon. 

Today in America, most cars are front wheel drive. Half of the vehicles sold are SUVs with 4-wheel drive. Yet on snow days, people claim that they can't get to work. Conditioned by a public education system that doesn't educate kids in cold, hot, or wet weather, they believe that the world stops revolving at the first sighting of a snowflake. 

The waitstaff liked snow days. It was usually pretty busy, and people tipped better to show their appreciation for us being open for business. Other employees were just happy that they wouldn't miss a day's pay.

 My kids went to a private school. Apparently, there is some kind of magic in private schools that enables them to open when snow is in the air. The boys knew that they were either going to school or going to work at the restaurant. Yesterday might have been the first snow day that I didn't work in years.

So, where is all of this going? Yesterday, the replacement Tex & Shirley's announced that they would be closed because of the snow forecast. I had one phone call and four e-mails telling me about this event. No one thought that it was a good idea. The owner said that the staff was scattered over the Triad area, and they couldn't get to work and back home safely. I can only surmise that none of them drive front wheel drive or four-wheel drive cars.  My best guess is that nobody really wanted to work. 

Whether it snows or not, the rent must be paid. The electric bill, the insurance, the maintenance and repair bills and other costs march on whether it snows or not. The work ethic that made this the greatest country on earth is in peril. It wasn't a good day for the future of America. Just for the record, the Russians are famous for fighting wars in the snow.

What's the moral of the story? Be nice to people working when you aren't, especially if you are taking a snow day and they aren't. Be thankful that someone was ambitious enough to find their way to work regardless of what the weather idiots were saying. My alma mater, the Waffle House, is always open! If the Waffle House closes, you better be hunkered down somewhere safe.