Winter has come a little later this year with snow bringing the usual chaos and mayhem. The UK is famous for not being able to cope with snow and I have two observations to offer that might be used as mitigation for this failure to come to terms with extreme weather.
The first is that for us, snow is fairly extreme and relatively rare - up until the last two years, I can't remember how long it has been since we had proper snow that has been good enough to build a snowman that would last more than a day... Hence, to invest in tonnes of hardware such as snowploughs and heavy-duty gritters is hard to justify in our relatively mild climate. Before we bemoan the local councils inability to cope with snow, we should ask ourselves how much more we would like to pay in taxes for this hardware to be purchased.
Secondly, in the last few decades we have become a country that loves to take action in the courts. I spoke to a teacher friend this week, he works at a school where the school caretaker used to grit and clear the snow from the premises in order to keep the school open. I say 'used to' because one year he did so and a pupil slipped and fell on some ice on a step. The parents of the child took the school to court over the 'inadequately' cleared snow, and as a consequence, the caretaker has been instructed NOT to clear away snow, and the school remains closed for 'health and safety reasons' when the snow falls.
The knock-on effect is that the local council/education authority ends up paying (from our taxes), and consequently instructs all schools to adopt the same strategy - tax-payers lose out in that they either have to foot the bill for compensation or accept a lower standard of service (more school closures). Either way, it is this willingness to sue that ensures many places stay closed when in all honesty there is no good reason why they shouldn't stay open. The parents of pupils affected by closed schools must then come up with a strategy which usually involves them having to take time off to look after the kids for at least a day until suitable arrangements can be made with family or friends - this in turn affects all types of industries that that parents are engaged in (unless they are teachers who are also off work of course...).
In the 'good old days' when we use to have 'accidents' and didn't have to sue the council because we fell over on the pavement, schools remained open - the only time I can recall my school closing was when there was no fuel for the boilers and the school heating system could not be operated.
In conclusion then, I don't suppose things will improve in the sense that firstly there is not the money to invest in snow-clearing equipment, and secondly, 'ambulance chasing' is a growing industry. I have however sensed another reason why snow closes us down, and that is simple acceptance that 'it is snowing and therefore I need not work'. It is one of those self-fulfilling philosophies in that if only a few people attempt to get to work, then there is little point going to work at all... This is the most concerning development, personally I will do whatever it takes to get into work when it snows, either by motoring through the drifts or by getting the waterproof trousers out and walking. I have noticed that there is a growing tendency to make plans to stay at home at the first sight of snow as if it were a foregone conclusion that it will not be possible to get to work - this is of course true for many who will have to look after school-age kids, but I notice this attitude equally affects those who don't have kids, and who frankly (it seems to me) can't be bothered. In fact there was a news report the other day and the interviewer was talking to adults who were 'skiving' off work and playing in the snow - some had even driven to snow-covered hillsides with their sledges having first rung into work to say that they were snowed in and wouldn't be able to drive into work.
At least this kind of weather is sufficiently rare for it not to be too big an issue, but with the current harsh economic climate, people should probably be trying to protect the businesses they work for, by keeping high ethical standards when it comes to attendance and work-rate.
