This afternoon we had a little snow...

This afternoon we had a little snow.
I got home from work about 2330(ish) I think.
One of the girls at work left at 1700, took two hours to drive to where I could walk to in 10-15 minutes and then dumped her car and walked back to work.

I, having more reports to write then I care to think about decided to write some, then build a 2.5 metre high snowman out side the main doors and then go with some people from work to a bar for some beer and food. My train home was only 50 minutes late, and the walk home from the train station through town and out to where I live was the quietest, most peaceful walk I've ever taken.

We were warned of large snow falls at the beginning of the week. Did anyway take any notice?
Nope!

I'm amazed how a couple inches of snow can cause so much trouble. Some people I know are spending the night at their offices. Sod that! I'm tempted not to even bother to try to get to work tomorrow.
It's Friday afterall. If I don't like the look of it, it's a sure bet that my technicians and the admin staff won't either.

Al

So how much is "a little snow"? I won't bore you with snow stories that we northern US residents can tell but in order to have to dump the car and walk, it would have to be well over a foot from where I live. In English terms I would say a half a meter or more.

Well to be fair, I'm betting that not too many people have snow tires in England. Just a guess... Also, although we've had a couple of 2+foot/day snowfalls this season, most cars don't work after about 4", unplowed. The undercarriage drags on the snow, pretty much screwing up forward motion. Sometimes, though, an inch of snow they don't bother plowing, maybe a couple of inches on the weekend.

In the US, we do love our cars, sometimes for a reason. I have a 20 mile drive to work. If I chose to take a bus, I'd still have to walk about 15. The population density is too low to support buses.

The only train in the area runs from Albany to NY City, which can be handy, and I believe it may run north to Montreal.

Yorkshires covered in snow; looks really nice but I know a few schools have told students not to come in. Its ridiculous how little snow can cause so much trouble, I wonder how the Scandinavians and Canadians manage. My brother lived in Salt Lake City and hes just moved to Bozeman Montana. He was amazed that it can dump 6feet of snow and people still go about their buisness and everything (public transport) works. Ive just been told that some people have spent 25hrs in their cars on the M25 motorway. No food, heating or torches
I guess it comes down to peoples willingness to prepare. Oh well I'm off for a snowball fight

donn you are forgetting the old British Rail excuse it's the wrong type of snow

As mentioned, it depends on where you live and how well the area you live in is how to handle it. Obviously you need snowplows. I grew up in a very rural country environment. Traffic was never heavy and most places there was room just to push the snow out of the way. Consequently school was not cancelled for piddly few inch storms. Now I live in a more heavily populated urban area. After an initial storm, the snow has to be physically removed from the streets otherwise there is no place to park.