I think a new commandment ought to be created: Thou shalt not murmur against the snow day, but cherish it for it is a free gift from the heavens. Yesterday flurries moved over the area, and a county to the west decided to close the schools in anticipation of potential snowfall. The showers were scheduled to start just before rush hour, and no one wants the kind of mess that happened last year during rush hour. But apparently some grown-ups-of-the-Captain-Hook-variety are rather upset about the isolated snow day to the west. Really? It’s a snow day! So what if it was only in anticipation! Enjoy it! Sleep in! Make hot chocolate, watch movies. Be safe. Take a day off work and live life for one day. It’s not going to kill you. And your kids aren’t going to kill you either—true story.
Said grown-ups-of-the-Captain-Hook-variety argued that the only reasons these schools took a snow day was because they haven’t had a chance to use one yet and they didn’t want to deal with the commute. And today they are gloating over the fact that there was no snow. “I bet they feel really foolish now!” They crow. Really? That’s all you’ve got? Wouldn’t you take a snow day if you had a reason to? Do you enjoy being stuck in a few hours of traffic, day, after day, after day? If you have scheduled a year to include a certain amount of snow days, why not use them? If you can avoid wasted time on the interstate, why not?
Snow days are magical. Our society has forgotten that we work to live, not live to work. If a snow day makes you turn pirate, you have serious issues. James Barrie said, “It is not real work unless you would rather be doing something else.” If you would prefer to be at work, then you are not living life properly, in my opinion. (Please don’t misinterpret me, I do feel that you should enjoy your work, but I also feel that you should recognize that there is a difference between work and leisure, and that leisure in moderation is something to be appreciated, not scorned.) Make the work more real and enjoy the snow, whether it be tangible or not.
That is all: I am stepping off the soapbox now.
