Lessons From a Snow Storm

This article is being moved here from the old site because I think the lessons from it are timeless. It was originally written on February 12, 2014, during a pretty bad snow storm here in NC. 

Credit Kiichiro Sato/Associated Press

The big news today has been the snow pounding the south east, and I am right here in the middle of it. I was released from work about the time I would normally go to lunch, and it took me a bit over three hours to get home. I won’t give you the entire play-by-play of the experiences I had coming home, but I do want to say something to people in general.

When I was growing up, we lived in NJ. As many of you know, or should, it snows a lot more there than it does down here. So I was raised to stop and help people get their cars out of tight spots like a parking spot the plow had just passed or when they got stuck skidding on hills. This lesson was a general lesson, not just a snow lesson. You stop and help people when they need it. Be it karma or just doing what is right, you stop and help people who are in trouble.

Somewhere along the line, we lost that.

This is not a “Northerners vs. Southerners in the Snow” story, so keep reading.

I was in an area with a hill tonight, and it was so slick and icy cars were either getting stuck or sliding back down. Other drivers attempting to get around the mess just made the mess worse. All it would take to clear the issues and get the line moving – thus assisting in getting cars up the hill – was for the smaller cars that had gotten stuck to be pushed out of the way. This would clear the path, stop the growing wall of cars getting stuck while trying to get around, and keep an actual pace so that the tires kept moving and didn’t get stuck again. It would assist in keeping traffic moving, basically.

But no one helped. I had a small car in front of me, a BMW. I considered giving him a shove with my Rav4, but decided against it, as it would probably cause more harm than good. It was time for some good, old fashioned snow fixes. I locked down my car on the side of the hill and got out. I knocked on the side of the BMW so he wouldn’t try to reverse, then I began to push on his car. He got the point and began pressing the gas. With some effort, he broke free and began moving forward, but was unable to continue without rear assistance. At this point, someone else came to assist. The two of us and the driver got the BMW to the top of the hill, where he was able to go on his way.

Me and this other girl looked at each other and turned back… to see nothing but cars. No one else got out to help… but there were several hands waving to us to come help them. So we did. Eventually – thank God – a man came by with a pick up on duelies with a winch and he began towing cars up the hill – including mine, which had become stuck while I was assisting others.

What a lot of you do not know is about two years ago I dislocated my right knee. I did get it fixed eventually, but my knee will never be the same again. I also broke my left knee in college, and since that knee has been taking up for the right one, it, too, is not in great condition. This is not the best situation when pushing cars and vans up an icy hill during a snow storm. And I knew when it was over my knees would swell and I would be in a lot of pain. But I was willing to make a sacrifice to help my fellow human beings who were in trouble.
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And we, as humans, have that obligation. What should you take from all of the above?

1. Don’t just stick your hand out to the few willing to work. Get out and work yourself. The group as a whole benefits from more people working.
2. Don’t ever turn a blind eye to a stranger in trouble. I do believe it comes back to you, and it did to me. I was pushed out of ice twice tonight.
3. Don’t expect a thank you for a good deed. That’s not what you are doing it for. The person driving the BMW? I never saw their face. I didn’t need to. My thank you was watching “him” get over the hill and get down the road on “his” own.
4. Sometimes, nothing else matters. We weren’t Northerners and Southerners, black and white out there tonight. We were a few people helping a few people in trouble. As it should be.
5. Sometimes making a sacrifice is worth it. It may be crippled knees or being cold for a few minutes. But whatever it is, sometimes that sacrifice is good for you. Tonight, without me accepting the inevitable pain, and without the help of the man with the winch and the woman helping me walk cars, it would have taken a lot longer to get that road moving again, and it was only getting worse.
6. And sometimes you do it because we’re people, and people need to help each other out. We didn’t wait for the government to send someone like the cops, we did it ourselves. We did it because it was the right thing to do. Do unto others…

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