What's up, Minnesota?

When I first moved here, I was shocked at how well Minnesota handled snowfalls. Our cul-de=sac was always plowed within just a few hours of the snow's end, and they even plow the sidewalks! But that has been gradually changing, and yesterday's snowfall was a shock in the other direction.

Yes, it snowed all day, but not hard - we got less than 5 inches. And according to the news, rush hour started at 2 because people wanted to get home before everyone else. So why was it still impossible to get on the highway near my office 3 hours later? The road in front of my office was totally clogged because cars weren't moving on the highway, and the on-ramps were clogged. So when the lights changed, people making left turns would block all of the lanes, and even those of us going straight couldn't move. Total gridlock.

Apparently the streets downtown were just as bad as the highways. The paper said it took one driver an hour to go six blocks. And 20-minute commutes were taking 2 hours. I was lucky - my 5-minute commute only took 30 minutes. Actually, it went very well once I got past the highway.

Have we gotten soft after a few years without much snow? We should be able to handle 5 inches much better than this.

Snow stopped by bedtime last night. This morning, the sidewalk along 86th Street is plowed, but the streets in my little neighborhood are not. I think that's ironic.

Fortune cookie of the day:
Memories make what we are. Dreams make what we'll be.