The Sky is Falling! (And it is very white)
Anyone who watched the final Packers game this year on Fox knows it's a wee bit chilly here in Green Bay. The day of that game it was -4 here, while about 14 degrees in Moscow and over 20 degrees in Greenland and Alaska, thanks to a snarky info box put up during the game. So I get it that people are complaining of the cold. It really has been bitterly, bitterly cold this year, with lows regularly in negatives and many days where the high never got into double digits. And all of that is before wind chill.
But what people are really freaking out about here is the snow. "Oh no, it's snowing!" My co-workers exclaim every time a flake falls past the window. One company that I called informed me that the person I was trying to reach wasn't expected in the office "due to the weather." It had snowed 4 inches. 4 inches?!? Sure, you need to be a little careful driving, but its hardly impassable. My snowblower took care of the driveway in its usual 10-15 minutes or so.
I saw the same sort of reactions in England. Three inches of snow was practically a natural disaster to the English. Cars were stranded on the motorway (I don't know how a car can get physically stranded in three inches, but apparently they did). No one even wanted to go outdoors. My friends thought I was a madman when I suggested actually playing in the stuff. One professor didn't show up for work and clearly expected all the students to understand his dilemma. But England doesn't get much snow. They aren't used to it and, thus, don't really know how to deal with it.
Folks, this is Wisconsin. Snow happens. It's not a surprise. It's not rare. It's a natural effect caused by being really far north. It's not hard to figure out. This whole snow thing happens every year. I am stunned by the people whose world comes to a screeching halt here every time it snows. What part of "Wisconsin" did you not understand when you moved here?