Snow job

The English like their weather and they love to talk about it. As I've blogged about before - social norms mandate that us colonial types must never question anything about the English weather. The (snow, sleet, rain, sun, heat, cold) was mentioned as a balm for interaction between the culturally shy - it wasn't raised just to be disputed by some upstart American.

But I can't do that. I do have to do the classic colonial and apparently deeply annoying - "You think this is hot/stormy/cold/variable?"

We had snow last week. Those of my colleagues who know I'm from Tennessee assume that we never see any snow*. "I don't guess you get much snow where you're from," I've been told during the two recent frozen precipitation episodes. The correct answer is, "well yes, not so much." The correct answer in the weather dialogue is always to agree with the weather conversation initiator. But I can't do that so I explain that we tend to get about as much precipitation in Tennessee as we get in South London - which, it's true is not much - except sometimes we get ice storms, too - and those are really bad - those put snow to shame.

"Well, I bet you don't react as badly to it as we do," is the immediate response. And it's true that London - and England in general - could react better to the snow. Particularly on the Underground - where on many lines no actual snow accumulates - with the trains being, you know, underground.

I lost count of the times I heard "Ladies and Gentlemen, there are delays on the .....(insert virtually every line)" yesterday. London's biggest snowfall in 7 years (or 15 if you go by This is Local London) was accurately predicted as early as Tuesday. Even down to the right day. Yet the transport system still couldn't cope because the snow was too sticky. The Met Office said that snow was unusually large. London Lite gleefully reported that "These giant snowflakes with their increased moisture are sticking together far more than expected, causing it to settle quicker and deeper". - via Going Underground.

and from my fellow expat, but one who's an actual Yankee who knows snow:

i really can’t wrap my brain around just how less than an inch of snow can cause so much chaos. other cities all over the world deal with snow for whole months of the year - perhaps someone from london’s city planners could go visit one of them and report back?

jimminy cricket - what a palaver for something that was completely melted away by midday! the exact same thing happened last time it snowed, too. i had a better sense of humour about it then, it seems.

i miss snow - but in london it’s far more trouble than it’s worth. ::sigh::

more predicted tonight - i’ll be lucky to make it to work tomorrow.

So, the correct answer again is to say "Yes, it's crazy that the schools have closed/ that there are delays on the Underground/ that my speaker at an event failed to show because she claimed she was snowed in."

But I can't do that.

I have to say - "You think you react badly. You should come to Tennessee. Y'all are moaning about schools being shut down when there's three inches of snow on the ground. I've not gone to school because of a dusting. At least the stores stay open, their shelves aren't denuded of a month's supply of milk and bread and rock salt and toilet paper. So no - really, all things considered, it's not so bad."

And that doesn't go down so well.