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Losing our bragging rights?

Us Montrealers are a hardy lot, we like to argue. We laugh at snow. We shrug off sleet. We survived the Ice Storm of 98, for cripes’ sake! We’re not like those wimpy Torontonians, who call in the army when the snow falls.

But I think somebody needs to tell that to the average Montreal driver.

Yesterday it was snowing. It’s January. This is not an atypical or unusual event. Okay, so it was icy underneath the snow. But that happens frequently as well. Temperature drops are not exactly news to us here.

So why is it that a little bit of snow caused rush-hour panic on the roads? Could somebody please explain to me why it took almost triple the amount of time as usual for me to drive home, all because of a little snowfall?

The salt trucks and snowplows exist. I know they do, because our tax dollars fund them. So where were they yesterday? Certainly not near any roads that I was on. And most Montrealers have snow tires… and if they don’t, they should and they are idiots with no excuse. After all, where do they think they’re living anyway? It’s not exactly news that Montreal gets snow in the winter. It’s happened every year for a very long time. Why does it come as such a shock to people? And why does snow seem to give every moron out there a license to drive like a total idiot? News flash: an inch of snow on the ground does NOT entitle you to run red lights, block intersections, or clip somebody’s bumper and drive along because it’s too cold outside to stop and exchange insurance information. (If the asshole who did that last one to me yesterday is reading this, you’re lucky that your license plate was too dirty and salt-stained for me to read).

If Montrealers want to keep our bragging rights that life goes on as usual here when it snows, then we have to grow up and learn how to deal with winter. After all, we can no longer make fun of Toronto for their hockey team… we need to hold onto something!

So get proper tires, a shovel, a snow brush, winter wipers, and top off on the windshield washer fluid before you head out on the roads this winter. Snow is no excuse for sheer idiocy.

{ 2 comments… add one }
  • Paul Jané 01.08.04, 3:57 AM

    Sheesh, I hope that the bastard didn’t damage your bumper too badly…

  • segacs 01.08.04, 6:01 AM

    Naw, just a scrape. But still…

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