So Indianapolis got some snow last night. Not a huge amount, but enough where the collective IQ of the automobile-driving population of our great city dropped into the single digits. My 15 minute commute from Carmel back to Meridian-Kessler took me 90 minutes. I heard of several people who were on the road for more than four hours to complete a drive that normally takes them 30 minutes. I saw more idiocy in the 2 hours I spent driving from and to work in the last two days than I do in a typical week of commuting, and that’s saying something. It was the kind of snow that provides justification to owners of the four-wheel-drive behemoth SUVs I slalom through every day. Too bad so many of those were off in the ditches, too…
But it’s the snowplows that have me befuddled. This is my second winter living in “inside the beltway” and in Indianapolis proper, and this is the second substantial snowfall where nearly 36 hours after it started, I’ve yet to see any evidence of a snowplow passing through any of the minor or major roads I drive every day. I don’t really expect New Jersey and 54th streets to be plowed (but it’d be nice), but I think it would be awful nifty if Bart’s boys (and girls) could direct one of their windshield-chipping devices along Meridian Street and College Ave. Even once would be nice. Even once after the snow’s done falling would be nice. As a matter of fact, I’d probably do a little jig if I saw any evidence of a snowplow beyond the confines of the interstates before the snow melts.
Despite the fact that the National Weather Service did a pretty darn good job of calling this storm several days out, you would never even know that the city of Indianapolis even owns a plow (except when you happen to catch sight of one perched precariously on a guard rail on Meridian). Frankly, I don’t mind the excuse to stay at home and throw snowballs for the dogs, but that’s because I have a pretty cushy white-collar job with good benefits that pays me even if I can’t make it into the office. What bugs me is thinking about the rest of the people who don’t have the luxury of hunkering down with a nice hot cuppa while the white stuff swirls outside and the wind blows cold enough to make the snot freeze your nostrils together. They’re the ones who make this city go: our teachers, letter carriers, baristas, grocery packers, chefs, cleaning staff, and the guy who keeps the pumps humming at the local Shell station. If they don’t show up for work, they don’t get paid or letters pile up on the floor or some yuppie caffeine-junkie starts going into withdrawal in his Porsche SUV because the local clinic coffee shop isn’t open.
Won’t you please think of the yuppies?
And yet Somebody-Else’s-Man Mitch is singing the praises of the snow removal efforts across the state. Maybe the rest of the state was in good shape, but from what I saw of Indianapolis last Christmas and over the last couple of days, somebody’s forgotten about the center of town.
Well, at least Mitch did his part:
Unlike most commuters, Daniels stayed late in the office, which eased the travel time from the Statehouse to the governor’s residence on Meridian, where he was hosting a Christmas dinner Thursday night for his cabinet.
I don’t know about you, but I sure feel relieved…
