Monday, November 27, 2006

Let's feel sorry for Vancouver (or not)

So as just about everybody knows, Vancouver got nailed with a snowstorm yesterday. On the off-chance that you didn't, here's a short story. As might be expected in a place that likes to brag that they're out planting flowers in February, they're not handling this situation well. And as might be expected in a country that mocked Toronto for calling in the army when they had a bad blizzard, the out-pouring of sympathy has been...non-existent.

Normally there's a story I like to tell when Vancouver gets hit by snow like this. Alas, Dups beat me to it a couple of days ago, even before Vancouver got nailed. Dups has been some kind of eerie weather jinx the last week or so; lamenting how warm it was in Edmonton and then the temperature freefalls about 30C. He mentions snow in Vancouver and, voila! He is apparently some evil weather groundhog.

Kirsten, who is living in the land that God is apparently pissed with this month, says I should feel free to go ahead and laugh. And, you know, I did. However, Environment Canada is telling me that at 8:10 a.m. it is -22C outside with the windchill putting it down to closer to -35. So I probably shouldn't laugh too hard.

ALthough I do take some comfort that if Vancouver ever got cold like this there would likely be rioting in the streets and a mass exodus to Toronto.

5 comments:

tanker belle said...

No, no, not mass rioting. Collective shock would send them all to the hospital...that and the car accidents.

They have great difficulty understanding what ice on the road does to tires and friction. When there's any kind of snowfall almost everything in town shuts down, only about half the normal number of vehicles are on the road, but the road accident rate doubles for the day because the drivers don't slow down (they all speeding normally).

I have so much sympathy for the land of smug, really I do.

Kirsten said...

I can only imagine how bad the roads are there (because of the snow, the lack of winter tires, and and the drivers!).

I remember during the year we lived out there, there was one day at the beginning of winter when we got a light dusting of snow (I really do mean a dusting - the grass was powdered, but the snow melted as soon as it hit the road). People were late getting to work, traffic was backed up, and people were calling my husband's pharmacy to ask if they were open due to the bad weather.

Coming from Newfoundland, where we had a LOT of snow the previous winter, we thought they were crazy. Still do, in fact.

towniebastard said...

Yes, well, your reaction to Vancouver's plight was not exactly a shock to me, Mireille. So how much time did you spend watching news footage yesterday with a bottle of wine cracked open, laughing and getting drunk?

Edward Hollett said...

The weather goings-on in Vancouver are truly unbelievable. if I didn't see the pictures, I'd wonder if it wasn't all just a joke.

The wag in me though wants to link together the sudden appearance of snow in Vancouver in most unseasonable quantities with the arrival on the West Coast of one Danny Williams. Seems our premier is out there to tell the BC Chamber of Commerce about the wonders of oil and gas.

I'll refrain from developing that into anything more than this passing reference.

Anonymous said...

There's no way Vancouver could riot in the streets if it got cold. Sure, this city has proved itself quite capable of staging protests against pretty much anything that five or more people disagree with, but cold weather will drive us indoors in fear and confusion, begging for lattes to keep us warm.

Then again, I did still see a handful of people out in the street protesting KFC chicken on Saturday night, so maybe I'm underestimating Vancouver's capacity for rage.