book smarts don't necessarily equal common sense

Most people, at least those in Duluth, know that we had a snow event this past week. While our trusty local weatherpeople were predicting up to 16 inches of snow, we ended up with 4-5. Fine by me.

This 4-5, though, was still enough to throw a wrench into my life.

Mr. W's out of town this week. And snow removal falls squarely on his side of our domestic division of labor. In the 3+ years we've lived together, I don't remember ever shoveling. And snow-blowing is definitely his bailiwick.

But, because I absolutely HATE wet ankles, I got my ass out of bed before 6 a.m. to remove the snow from the walkway between the house and the garage. (I'm lazy. If I didn't hate wet ankles, I wouldn't have even shoveled that much. I would've just trudged through it and waited for the snow to melt. It is MARCH, after all.)

I didn't bother removing the snow from the driveway because I knew my all-wheel-drive vehicle could power through. The rest of my yard didn't even enter my mind.

We got our mail the day after the storm. I saw the steps of the mailman through the snow up to the front of our house. It did not occur to me to shovel the front walkway.

We did not get any mail the next two days. This was weird, but I just figured that because the economy's so bad, no one's sending junk mail anymore. I actually thought this. The thought of shoveling, again, never crossed my mind.

Today, we got our mail. A big bundle of it. Stamped clearly on the envelope atop the bundle was a note, "Mail delivery may be suspended due to failure to remove snow and/or ice."

What?

Now that I think of it, I get it. Postal delivery is a privilege and not a right.

But still.

What about the Postal Service's creed*?

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

Perhaps there should be a qualifier.

Neither snow (other than snow that has not been removed within a reasonable time after the end of a snow event, such reasonable time not to exceed twenty-four (24) hours after the official end of the snow event as designated and reported by the local trusty weatherpeople) nor rain ...

Just so clueless people like me know.

Anyway, I guess I'll get off my duff and shovel the front sidewalk today.



*Wikipedia informs me that the USPS does not actually have an official motto or creed. The commonly-accepted "creed" is engraved on one of the post offices in New York. I think it's been used in an ad campaign, though, so close enough.