Southern snow...sort of.

People like to talk to their cashier about the weather.  Especially when it's changing.  It's a safe topic - nobody's going disagree or argue about whether it's sunny or cold.  This last week has been getting gradually colder (but nothing like what poor Colorado experienced!), and people  are starting to freak out.  You'd think they'd never seen winter before!  People here treat snow like it's the end of the world, and they really don't get all that much snow.

One night at work, it was that cold weather where the air is frozen and you can feel little specks of frozenness touching your face, but there's nothing coming down.  Just frozen humidity.  A fellow cashier came inside saying, "It's sleeting!"  Another announced, "It's sure coming down!"  Nope.  Maybe a total of ten drops on a windshield.  Sleet?  No.

I want to rant for a minute and say that I love snow.  I agree, driving in snow isn't awesome, and being colder than you want is also not wonderful.   I don't like driving in snow any more than summer-lovers like dealing with sunburns.  But be prepared and you'll get through it; there's no need for the annual Facebook onslaught of snow hating.  Many people dislike hot weather, but you don't see everyone post "I hate all sunshine forever until I die!"  "Gross!  It's sunshine!"  "I can't believe the sun is out! I hate this time of year."  Wear sunscreen if you don't want a sunburn from the sun.  Wear a coat to be less cold from the snow.   Let's stop the hating on snow!  It's not a surprise - I mean, good grief, it's winter.  If you live in a snowy state and hate snow, then move to Arizona.  Four months of complaining and unhappiness because of fluffy white stuff you can't control?  What a sad way to lose a third of the year.  You're allowed to dislike it, but please don't be mean to people who do like it! And learn that this is a third of your life if you live in a place that experiences winter.  Sheesh.  It's just snow.  Rant over.

Anyway, in our city here, people treat snow like it's the Apocalypse.  On Thursday afternoon there were actual flurries in the air - flurries! - and they didn't even stick.  The prettiness of snow without any mess!  Brilliant!  It was not supposed to accumulate, and there's no snow in the forecast, but the sight of a dozen flakes sent people into a frenzy.  Our store was suddenly swarmed with doomsdayers buying milk, bread, eggs, and almost every gallon of water we had.  People buying lighters, propane, and coffee - oh, if I had a dime for all the coffee we sold!  It didn't even full-on snow.  It lasted for 30 minutes and was lovely.  Not a single person through my line that day liked snow, and they all mocked me for liking it.  I've seen snow-hate and snow-fear, but this was exciting: imminent snow death for all as the world comes to an end!  They're all scurrying about, preparing for the Apocalypse, and I'm just smiling, watching the snow fall down.  Some people just like to watch the world burn.