Wednesday, December 5, 2007

Snow in our nation's capital

Washington DC is known for having some of the worst traffic in the world. It's not a surprise, we're one of the most powerful nations in the world, and DC is where all of the important decisions get made. Until I was in high school, I don't think I understood the culture of this place. Washington DC is a highly political area to live in, and I didn't start loving that until college. Now I'm all over politics, and I absolutely drink it up. I don't know what it is about politics that makes me excited, but it's pretty cool.

Now that I live in Virginia, in a place about forty five minutes away from DC instead of the old ten, I'm finding that my culture has changed a little. People in my neighborhood are very suburbuan, which is nice, but not my style. I live in Manassas, so it's still very urban and fast-paced, but not so much as what I was used to. The metro rides, the newspaper reading in the morning, seeing congressman on a daily basis, that used to be what made my day special. Now I listen to the news on the radio in the morning, and I get the feeling my roommates think I'm kinda boring.

I don't mind so much, being boring. I think I'm anything BUT boring, but everyone needs their boring hobby. Mine is politics and reading.

Well today, ladies and gentlemen, it snowed. It snowed a teeny tiny bit, but enough to cause one of the most important cities in the world to come to a trickle as traffic backed up for two hour long delays. I can only imagine how people from other colder regions must see us; we're weak, we're cowardly. A few flakes of snow and all life stops?? Imagine that happening in Alaska.

I'll be honest, I hate snow. I hate being cold. The very idea of being cold makes me upset, and when I feel cold I'm so miserable I shut myself down. I wear coats and gloves in my office. I keep my heater on in my car so much it fogs the windows. I just was not made for this cold climate, and that makes me feel very strange, because everyone else seems to cope just fine. Nobody else is miserable, nobody else seems to care. What's a few inches of snow but a traffic delay? To me it means something else.

And man do I hate it.