Last weekend, I was in New Jersey for my brother’s
engagement party and experienced one of the worst snow storms I can remember,
and definitely the worst I can remember happening in October. It might seem
counterintuitive, but I’d like to explain something to my Californian brothers
and sisters:
Snow storms bring out people.
Not in the sense of having snowball fights or making snow
angels, but in the sense of magnifying characteristics of people that are
already present within the individual. Allow me to offer my anecdotal evidence.
At some point, I was driving my four cylinder, front
wheel drive vehicle in a snow storm three other people in it uphill. Lovely. My
vehicle got stuck in what I can best call a mudtrap from MXC (Most Extreme
Elimination Challenge anyone?) I got out of my car, took off my suit, rolled up
my sleeves and got to pushing as my mom went into the driver’s seat. Clearly I’m
not going anywhere, but two cars behind me, a gentleman decides to give me some
encouragement by honking his horn. Makes sense right? I’ll push harder now,
thanks buddy.
Another man gets out of the car directly behind me and
starts pushing. We’re still going nowhere. On the opposite side a man gets out
of his car and starts giving us directions on which way for my mom to turn the
wheel and when for us to push. He looks up and calls me aside and says “Look,
tell the ladies in your car that if a tree falls down to stay in the car.”
“Why?” I ask
“Because if a power line falls, we’re all fried anyway.
They’ll be safe in the car.”
Awesome. “Hey mom, if a tree falls, stay in the car.”
“Why?” said my mom already freaking out.
“JUST STAY IN THE CAR!” (Okay, not my best moment, but it
felt necessary at the time. For the record, I don’t endorse yelling at your
mother. But in a matter of mortality, I make an exception.)
In the meantime, some guys snapped branches on the fallen
tree that blocked most of the road. Oh nice, the guy that honked a sound of
encouragement has now just passed me. Oh thanks man, he gave me a thumb’s up.
Oh. Not his thumb.
One of the guys that helped me push the car ended up
getting back in his car to get something…and left. This is getting better and
better. Finally, two other guys showed up who I had to flag down and stand in
the road to get. (It was me vs a Dodge Ram 3500. I think the only thing that
stopped this guy was that he didn’t wanna get blood on his new chrome bumper.)
They eventually got out of their car and pushed us up and out. I gave them all
solid handshakes and went on my way, only to get stuck again about a mile away.
But I’ll spare you that story.
The point is, I got to see different kinds of people come
out in a snow storm and for those of you who have never experienced snow,
perhaps you just did too. Some flip you off. Some push your car and then drive
off when the road is cleared for them. Others will stay with you until the job
is done, even if they don’t know you and there isn’t much incentive for them to
help. And even more will stay in the safety of their homes, snuggled up by a
fireplace wondering why anyone would be outside.
I didn’t know what kind of person I would be until I was
in the snow storm. For the rest of the ride home, I’m trying to keep the tone
of the car calm and collected with my cousin (thanks Hannah) as we wondered how
my dad and brother were faring in their ride home in another car. It took us
90-120 minutes to get back home for what would have otherwise been a 20 minute
ride.
When the four of us in my car got home, we were ecstatic
to see my brother’s car on the street. Thank God, we all made it back. By the
end of the trip, I drove under four power lines and got my car stuck twice. My
brother luckily never got stuck (yay 4WD!), but had a similar experience with road
closures and power lines and freaky, icy hills.
It could have ended very differently, but thank God it
didn’t. And a lot of that had to do with the people that came out in the snow
storm. My aunt and my mom praying for safe passage home, my cousin and I
keeping the mood of the car calm, my brother and my dad calling to check up on
us, the guy who pushed my car and left, the guys who ended up freeing my car,
the man who warned us about the power lines, and maybe even the guy who gave me
the bird.
It’s not a matter of whether we come out during snow
storms. It’s just a matter of how.
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