It's amazing what a little, or in this case, a lot of snow will bring out in people. The first gentle snowfall tends to bring out the wonder in most of us. We stick out our tongues and revel in the cold crispness of frozen rain. Next many of us wax nostalgic. We remember times when we lived in a colder, tougher climate. We remember the true meaning of freeze-dried - sheets brought in the house to thaw after freezing stiff in minus 35-degree weather. We recall sliding down hills on beat-up toboggans, cardboard boxes or, for a privileged few, brand-new sleds.
But pretty soon the greeting card aspect of the snow fades and reality sets in. And out comes our inner idiot. We pretend we don't know that a leftover-from-the-last-hippie-era Volkswagen van bedecked in bald summer tires doesn't stand a hope in Hades of making it over a speed bump, let alone a Sunshine Coast hill. We stand with our roll-your-own hanging out our slack jaw and grin like a demented chimpanzee while everyone else in the neighbourhood wonders how they'll get around us.
We honk our horns - loudly - at the poor motorist trying to turn out of a parking lot that looks more like a bunny ski hill. And if that doesn't make him or her feel sufficiently guilty, we give said motorist the Trudeau salute (a rude gesture with a finger just recently pulled out of the saluter's left nostril).
Some of us are even brave enough to haul out our bicycles. We pretend we have the right to attempt to ride up a vertical skating rink and glare askance at those of us who register wonder at the sight.
Some of us find compassion. We question walk-on passengers on the ferry as to whether the lack of local transit means a cold, lonely walk up an unforgiving hill. We worry about the homeless, and some of us give up our warm beds to make sure emergency shelters are open to welcome the needy and frequently unwelcome among us. Some of us venture into these urban no-man's lands and bring what little comfort we can to these, the least of us.
Some of us get to hand out tickets to others who fail to realize that snow and drink, unlike ice and drink, don't mix. Some of us get to extricate motorists from mangled cars that were recently driven much too fast for the snowy conditions. Some of us get to shake our heads in wonderment at the audacity of recreation hounds who choose to make their own bounds, regardless of what wiser folks say. We get to wonder if their brains are frozen in spite of their expensive designer toques.
Amazing, isn't it, what snow can do?
