Milk, Bread, Toilet Paper and the End of the World

Snow is predicted for the Washington DC area tonight and tomorrow morning. It’s not the first time we will experience heavy snowfall around here, but the ‘storm warning’ panic has already begun.

We laugh at ourselves when snow is in the forecast, in a self-conscious ‘it’s funny but it’s true’ way. The joke is that everyone in the Mid-Atlantic states stocks up on milk, bread and toilet paper when snow is coming. It’s funny. And it’s true. Those items were in my basket yesterday and I doubt anyone would believe that I really was low on all three; my purchase had nothing to do with the weather forecast. Really.

If you’re visiting here from Buffalo or Cleveland tonight or tomorrow, you’ll be laughing at another aspect of life in DC, Maryland and Northern Virginia: we forget how to drive in snow until we’re in the middle of the first big storm of the season. So far this winter, we’ve only had two inches of show, so if the current forecast holds true, this is the first big one. Part of the area may see ten inches of snow.

Actually, if you’re a seasoned snow driver visiting from lake effect locales, you might not be laughing; because one of us might skid right into you. At least we can offer you something to eat and drink while exchanging insurance information.

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