Study Abroad, Part 2 (Alternative Title: Snow, England, and Public Transport)
So it snowed today.
About oh, maybe 3-5 inches, nothing major.
And then everyone freaks out.
So I understand that snow isn't the most common weather condition in England, and yes, it is a bit tough to deal with when you're not as prepared for this weather as say, The New England states of the US; but this is really too funny.
So back home if we got this much snow, DoT (Department of Transportation) would have been out and about since 3-5 hours before the snow fell sanding and laying down deicer on the roads. Once it starts snowing, DoT crews are going to be out plowing every City/State/National road/highway/parking lot. People get up early to shovel/snow-blow the driveway, and K-12 classes are delayed 90 min-2 hours. Amtrak, The Boston subway, and the New York subway, plow/blow all the snow off the tracks before service starts and during the course of the day. Some idiot going 90 mph on 84 ties up traffic for 2 hours, but all in all, life goes on.
Here in England, apparently the world stops. My tags on this Tumblr post* sum up my feelings quite nicely. Apparently the public transport system is out, 3/4 of the professors can't come in because of the traffic, and at least 3 people didn't show up to either the seminar nor the lecture because they thought they were canceled. I do understand that the country isn't as prepared for this kind of weather as New England, but I am getting way too much amusement out of this.
*(And for those of us who didn't want to go to said Tumblr post, my tags kinda look like this: # 12 INCHES OF SNOW CAUSED THIS?# WOW# I THINK IT WOULD TAKE LIKE 12 FEET TO GET THAT REACTION IN NEW ENGLAND# HOLY FUCK IT'S NOT A HURRICANE)