Jackassalope

Give Me a Break

Let me preface this by saying that I don’t think I’m the king ding-a-ling of winter or anything. I did grow up in Montana, and I have been exposed to winter-like conditions before. I’m well aware that that doesn’t make me special. I also can understand how someone who is not used to such conditions would have a little bit of trouble when the snow starts to fly. That being said, however, I do have a problem with the Doom and Gloom mentality of the local news stations regarding their coverage of this weekend’s storm.

I sat through 1-hour of local news yesterday morning. Every 5-minutes I received an update from some “very concerned” reporter on location. “The wind is blowing. And as you can see, there are a couple of snow flakes coming down.”

Holy crap! Stop the presses. Do we really need five reporters on location to show us how “nasty” 2-inches of snow can be? Yes, the roads get slick. But this is not the end of the world. If you have chains, put them on. If not, you slow down and avoid some of the hills.

But this big hullabaloo about “if you don’t have to leave your house today, don’t,” is a little over the top even for Portland. We get 2 of these storms every year. Get use to it. Leave your house early. Drive slower. And don’t watch the news unless you want an update on the end of civilization as we know it…Because in weather like this, even hell can freeze over. Dun, dun, dun.