Winter is (finally) here

By Bex Peterson, Editor-in-Chief

It happens every year like clockwork. All through January, I hear people grumble that we’ve barely seen any snow in the Lower Mainland, that it’s going to be a “mild winter,” and that we’re basically already on our way to an early spring.

Then, inevitably, right when every lets their guard down and thinks that maybe buying winter tires was a waste of money, the snowpocalypse hits.

I hate to say it, but this is honestly why the rest of the country laughs at us when winter finally catches up to us. We’re never prepared for it, no matter how many times it happens. No, we don’t really have the infrastructure to counteract the mess and despair that heavy snowfall leaves us with, the endless traffic and building closures, and that sucks for us. But do we really have to act so surprised about it, so caught off-guard by the mere existence of winter, that we act like chickens with our heads cut off when it strikes?

I preach and moan, but I’m honestly no different. While I did spend my January fruitlessly warning everyone that the more they tempted fate by declaring that winter was basically over, the more Mother Nature would gleefully dump on us, now that it’s here it does sort of feel a bit apocalyptic. I cancelled our exit proof meeting tonight out of fear that my coworkers would be stuck in the OP office to wait out the inevitable snow-in, a situation that I’m sure would have devolved into chaos and cannibalism in a matter of hours. Once we’re done here, I plan to run through Safeway to stock up on all the necessities of life—just in case the world shuts down and I’m left stuck at home for days on end with nothing but crackers, mug cakes, and scrambled eggs to sustain me.

It would have been far too convenient for the snow to wait until next week’s Reading Break; no, here we are in our last few days before our week’s rest, scrambling to get to (never mind through) our last few classes before our mid-semester breather. I’m sure we’ll all be ready to bundle ourselves up in blankets with hot chocolate and a few good books for the break… just in time for all the snow to melt.

So, for those of us still trying to get shit done this week, here’s my advice: Invest in snow tires or stay off the roads, make sure you’re dressed warm and wearing proper shoes with grips so you don’t go sliding all over the inevitable ice, and try to enjoy it while it lasts. It’s probably all going to be slush, ice, and rain in a week or two… although that could be me just tempting fate all over again.

Until next issue,

Bex Peterson