Rant #1,155: Snow More

Yes, we are getting more snow as I speak.

This has been the winter from hell in my neck of the woods.

We have been barraged by the white stuff yet again, making everything hazardous and up in the air.

At this moment--a little before 5 a.m.--I have no idea whether the schools are open or on a delay.

I do know one thing: my place of business is open, because no matter how hazardous it is, no matter how treacherous driving is, my place is open.

Don't ask, and I won't tell.

Anyway, I think we have a chance of having the second largest snow total of all time in the New York Metropolitan area with this snow.

If I remember correctly, we are at No. 7 now, inn the 60 inches-plus vicinity, and numbers 2 through 6 are all bunched up, so with any significant snowfall, we will move up the ladder to No. 2.

No. 1 is the winter of 1995-1996, when we got over 90 inches of powder, a winter I will never forget.

In these parts, we got over 90 inches of snow, which was bad enough.

What made it worse is that it was my son't first winter, and I was out of work.

I had been fired from a job I had with a fire/burglar alarm association for three and a half years, and the way I went out still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I was a political football, and finally, when one member of that group's board of directors wanted to show his might, he fired me.

My son was barely three months old when they gave me the boot.

This was the same organization that when I told them that my wife was pregnant, the president of the association told me, "Congratulations, but I don't give a s---."

When my son was born in August, and I took some time off, right in the middle of my paternity leave, they ordered me back because the director of the association took ill, and they needed someone in the office. My son was days old.

And this is how they treated me.

Anyway, I was out three months, and looking for a job during this time was impossible.

But I have to say that I never missed an appointment. Sometimes, the people supposedly going to interview me weren't there, which really steamed me. I was there, though, and on a few supposed interviews, I remember walking out because no one was there.

I was also delivering newspapers at this time as an adult carrier, making things doubly impossible.

But my papers got delivered.

I was called on the carpet by the state for making "too much money" as an adult newspaper deliverer to get unemployment payments.

I was making a total of $150 a week, and paying child support yet.

I was in arrears, lost my case with the state, and it was a total mess.

Finally, in about early March, I found work making the minimum wage--that's right, the minimum wage.

And then I found another job, the job I have stayed in for the past nearly 18 years.

So that winter was a memorable one for me, one that I hope I never have to go through again.

No matter how bad this winter has been, I look back at that winter, and well, nothing can compare to that time in my life.

So as I look at the fresh show on the ground, I just say to myself, "It's not that bad ... remember that other winter ... ," and I plod on.

I still hate the snow, but heck, it will never be as bad as the winter of 1995-1996.

I certainly hope not. We do have several more days to go before spring ...

What, me worry?