Today's View From the Unemployment Line: Let It Snow Edition

We are in the midst of Chicago's first big snowfall of the year, projected to "accumulate" (see below advice on measuring Chicago snow totals) up to 8 inches. Snow relentlessly assaulted the Loop this morning and throughout the day, blowing in sideways from the lake at a high rate of speed and causing misery (or elation...is anyone ho-hum about snow?) for millions of Chicagoans.

Personally, I enjoy the snow. Even the frigid, blowing kind we have here in Chicago still fascinates me. Maybe the anticipation of snow that every child enjoys never leaves some people. Remember that feeling that maybe, just maybe, school will be cancelled?! (Now it is maybe, just maybe, the office will be closed!)

I also enjoy the fury of weather. Or the camaraderie it develops amongst strangers. In Baltimore, for example, I enjoyed two snows of over 3 three feet. If one was not in the bars hanging out with all the other snowed in folks, he might be helping someone free a snowbound car or meeting the neighbors on the block for the first time in a joint effort to hand shovel the streets (no, Baltimore's public services were not the model for other cities to emulate...though I think DC may have tried to).

Something about snow brings out the worst in commuters, however. This morning, with trains running slow and drivers opting to ride rather than brave the streets, the El was especially jammed. Riders shoved and shouted their ways on and off the train with surprising regularity. Maybe a good snowball fight could have settled it all.