Tips for the South

No joke here: Three inches of snow crippled Atlanta. While we-representatives of America’s four-season states-would for the most part live our lives as normal with that level of snowfall, three inches of snow and ice is being called Snowmageddon in metro Atlanta.

It seems absolutely awful.

As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution explained, motorists were stuck in traffic jams brought on by the storm for six, eight, 18 and more hours.

The interstates were a gridlocked mess long before the snow finished falling. And side streets? Even worse. Some people ditched their vehicles and set out on foot. Others tried to help stranded strangers. And many persevered, moving a few inches an hour toward home.

It would be easy for us to make fun of those good ol’ Peaches, but that would be too easy and sort of mean. The storm has led to weather-related accidents.

But the dramatic headlines about the storm have left many of us-The People of the North-scratching our heads.

It is really not the fault of Georgians that they live in a mostly sunny state, ill-equipped and ill-prepared to deal with what we see as a drop of snow. It is a kind of place where people complain about 50-degree weather and start Facebook threads if the temperature calls for jackets and sweaters in January.

Keeping all that in mind, here are five things Ohio can teach Georgia about snow:

It falls from the sky.

That wet, white stuff under your feet is called snow. It falls from the sky during the winter months and the People of the North use shovels to remove it.

You are going to make it.

We-the people who rejoice when the temperature reaches 10 degrees-are pulling for you. If we can make it through Arctic blasts and a nasty polar vortex, you can survive three inches of Snowmageddon.

Blame your government.

Georgia, you seem to have this one down. As the AJC has it, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed are feeling the wrath of angry, cold and stranded voters. Neither is accepting responsibility for the incident sparked because everyone-school children, office workers and government employees alike-tried to get out of Dodge at the same time.

It is going to melt.

There will be no armies of suddenly animated snowmen pounding at your door. Three inches of snow will be gone in no time flat. You have that sun you are always showing off on Facebook.

Try to enjoy it.

I am not sure three inches of snow is enough to play in, but you can try.

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Amelia Robinson writes for the Dayton Daily News.

Editorial, Pages 10 on 02/03/2014

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