Snowbusiness UK

Snow arrived in the UK on Monday. The most for 20 years. 

It brought complete and utter chaos.

As if we had never seen the cold, white powdery stuff before. 

Schools closed. People skidded to work, some didn't. All of London's buses were cancelled for the day due to the wrong amount of snow. This was the first time in  the 100-year history of the capital city's bus service that all buses were cancelled. I'm sure more snow has fallen before on buses that were probably much heavier and without the advantages of power steering or ABS braking systems. 

Russians laughed at us on national news, Swedes chortled at us in the newspapers (though worried they might not be able to leave 

this island.) The general theme from citizens of countries who have regular snow was along the lines of 'aren't you lot crap.' I'm sure old people are laughing or bemoaning too.

The great things were seeing lots of parents and children sledging together in parks. Plenty were having lots of fun, heightened I'm sure by the surprise of the day off and the sheer adventurous fun of a slope and some snow.

The kids were off because the schools were closed, some parents kept at home without this free, national child

care service. I heard mothers moaning about it while kids said 'c'mon mum, my feet are freezing.' One mate I once played football with who runs his own business decided to give everyone the day off so he could go out and play with his child who had never seen this much snow before.

Hardly anyone bothered to either shovel the snow or compacted ice from their path outside their house or clear a stretch of road with grit or a spade. I gritted and shovelled the bottom of Fulton Road, where its junction with another road had left s thick layer of ice, because we wanted to use the car to pick-up some paint. Two women passed at different times. One, maybe in her thirties and by her accent from the south, complemented me on thinking of others. A retired Sheffield-born lass shouted over 'Don't waste your time on others!'

Two faces of modern Britain caught in their attitudes to me spending 20 minutes clearing a short bit of road. It made me think. Perhaps if we spent less time complaining about the weather or the slippery conditions and a little time clearing a stretch of pavement or road, maybe just 30 minutes, we'd all have fairly clear routes and be able to get around a lot easier.