Unprepared Ineptitude

[Karidian]

I always find it funny (not funny haha) when we have snow here in Scotlands central belt. The amount of people that just dont know how to drive in snow, or any bad weather for that matter, is amazing.
A few years ago we had a severe freeze during which my own gas central heating boiler packed in because the outflow pipe froze. Water pipes were freezing everywhere which caused more problems when they melted. My wife took 8 hours to drive home from work. A journey which normally took 20 + mins. after heavy snow. We now carry a ghb in the boot (trunk for you Americans). Basic, just waterproofs, extra warm clothes, decent boots, water, snacks and a small collapsible shovel.
The councils here have gritter lorries and snow shovels but from speaking to council employees it seems they have a specific amount of grit/salt available so are reluctant to use it in case they run out. What happens is they tend to leave things till the last minute and risk not getting it out at all. Even then they only cover major roads/bus routes. You have a situation where the road round the corner from my house is clear of snow but i cant get my car out my own street to get there.
Add this to the fact that employers expect their employees to turn up at work even when there is advisories out that only essential travel should be attempted. Their definition of essential and mine differ greatly.
I can understand the problems in cities like Atlanta that rarely get snow and are unused to dealing with it. Cities like Glasgow should never have these problems.