Did you every notice how bad weather and holidays tend to bring out the worst in people? Sure, many come together in various, and sometimes positive, ways during those occurrences, but there are times when ugliness rears its head.
Yesterday, western Pennsylvania was hit with some fast-falling snow, which happened to land on some ice. The roads, from the pictures and videos I saw and the comments I read on Facebook, were quite dicey in most areas. Considering this weather had been forecast for several days and this is PA in late December, not the deep South, the roads should have been in better shape. But on the other hand, you can pretreat all you want; when freezing rain comes down and there are a ton of cars on the road, it is unrealistic to expect smooth-sailing. But to read and listen to the number of complaints, it was clear that many (including the hubby) fell into the former camp.
Admittedly, I was annoyed with the road conditions. Our taxes have gone up as has our house assessment, and the "service" we get seems to keep going down. We were supposed to go to the MIL's to celebrate Christmas, but neither a plow nor a salt truck came near our roads, so even if the main roads had been decent, it probably would not have mattered. But what about others who had to be somewhere? Not everyone gets vacation days or has any left; what were those people to do? Yet to read comments from people on Facebook who criticized "the idiots on the road," you would swear that everyone had the ability to just not go to work. Unfortunately, that is not the case for everyone. (I have no sympathy for those who were out and about just to return Christmas gifts/go shopping, for the record.)
And speaking of Christmas, never is it more clear how hypocritical and selfish people are than what you see on Facebook. Christmas night, after we got home from my mom's, I saw Chick fil-A's holiday message (not a merry Christmas) to its Facebook fans. Holy crap, you would have thought they said they are now in favor of gay marriage the way some of their "fans" went off. I agree that companies should want/be able to wish their customers a merry Christmas on that day, for the love of Pete (just as I completely and vehemently disagree with Pittsburgh's calling what is obviously a Christmas tree a unity tree). But I find people spending their time on Facebook ranting about it being Jesus's birthday a little ironic. If they are so concerned with the religious aspect, maybe they should be at church, pray, help out at a homeless shelter, or, I don't know, maybe be a little less negative and get off Facebook on Christmas day! But what do I know? (And, for the record, I am not criticizing people's spending time on Facebook on Christmas, just those who are acting holier than thou on Facebook on Christmas.)
Regardless, here is hoping that the roads will be in decent shape for our journey to the MIL's today (I am sure our local roads are since I heard the plow truck force its way into my dreams so early). And, I am not going to lie when I say I am holding out hope that maybe, just maybe, instead of the 20 or 30 gifts I typically get from my MIL, there will by an iPad or new cell phone waiting for me. Because even though Christmas is not about the gifts, as long as people are going to buy you gifts, there is nothing wrong with wanting and hoping for what you actually want. Right?
Be careful out there!
Yesterday, western Pennsylvania was hit with some fast-falling snow, which happened to land on some ice. The roads, from the pictures and videos I saw and the comments I read on Facebook, were quite dicey in most areas. Considering this weather had been forecast for several days and this is PA in late December, not the deep South, the roads should have been in better shape. But on the other hand, you can pretreat all you want; when freezing rain comes down and there are a ton of cars on the road, it is unrealistic to expect smooth-sailing. But to read and listen to the number of complaints, it was clear that many (including the hubby) fell into the former camp.
Admittedly, I was annoyed with the road conditions. Our taxes have gone up as has our house assessment, and the "service" we get seems to keep going down. We were supposed to go to the MIL's to celebrate Christmas, but neither a plow nor a salt truck came near our roads, so even if the main roads had been decent, it probably would not have mattered. But what about others who had to be somewhere? Not everyone gets vacation days or has any left; what were those people to do? Yet to read comments from people on Facebook who criticized "the idiots on the road," you would swear that everyone had the ability to just not go to work. Unfortunately, that is not the case for everyone. (I have no sympathy for those who were out and about just to return Christmas gifts/go shopping, for the record.)
And speaking of Christmas, never is it more clear how hypocritical and selfish people are than what you see on Facebook. Christmas night, after we got home from my mom's, I saw Chick fil-A's holiday message (not a merry Christmas) to its Facebook fans. Holy crap, you would have thought they said they are now in favor of gay marriage the way some of their "fans" went off. I agree that companies should want/be able to wish their customers a merry Christmas on that day, for the love of Pete (just as I completely and vehemently disagree with Pittsburgh's calling what is obviously a Christmas tree a unity tree). But I find people spending their time on Facebook ranting about it being Jesus's birthday a little ironic. If they are so concerned with the religious aspect, maybe they should be at church, pray, help out at a homeless shelter, or, I don't know, maybe be a little less negative and get off Facebook on Christmas day! But what do I know? (And, for the record, I am not criticizing people's spending time on Facebook on Christmas, just those who are acting holier than thou on Facebook on Christmas.)
Regardless, here is hoping that the roads will be in decent shape for our journey to the MIL's today (I am sure our local roads are since I heard the plow truck force its way into my dreams so early). And, I am not going to lie when I say I am holding out hope that maybe, just maybe, instead of the 20 or 30 gifts I typically get from my MIL, there will by an iPad or new cell phone waiting for me. Because even though Christmas is not about the gifts, as long as people are going to buy you gifts, there is nothing wrong with wanting and hoping for what you actually want. Right?
Be careful out there!
Comments
Safe travels, and I hope you get that new iPad. Or phone.
RPM: Glad you got to be home for the rest of the day. So far that was the only day since my kid has been off school that we had to relax.