What is about Philadelphians and the weather?
At the mere mention of some sort of [maybe] serious weather, Philadelphians go into a frantic state that shutters workplaces early, jams highways, causes long lines at gas stations, clogs supermarket aisles and empties shelves faster that you can say "Mmm, Mmm, Good"!
It's as if we've living in Siberia, or at least in Buffalo. But, c'mon! People in Buffalo and Syracuse and Chicago and Des Moines and Minneapolis know how to handle the weather. They don't panic.
In Florida and North Carolina, they've learned how to deal with hurricanes. In Arizona and Nevada, they've learned how to deal with 100°+ heat. In Kansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee they've learned how to deal with tornados. Mind you, these people don't actually enjoy extreme weather but they recognize that it sort of goes with the territory and they deal with it.
Now, Philly is not in an extreme weather zone and never really has been, It's sort of moderate here -- a temperate zone, I suppose. So that may explain the panic. But people in nearby New York seem to be able to deal with weather emergencies without much hysteria. New Yorkers muddle through. It's just their way. And just down the road in Washington, they simply pretty much close up shop (after all, government doesn't work much anyway) and wait till it's over. Again, no panic.
But in Philly the buildup to the weather and the coverage of the weather is non-stop. There are TV stations here that have four and five meteorologists -- that's per TV station folks! And they chatter away incessantly. They actually love hyping the weather. And these people become celebrities. In many cases, they're right up there with the city's sports stars, which is about as high as you can go in this raucous Jock City.
Maybe weather obsession is epidemic here because the town is basically boring -- stuck as it is between the world's most exciting city and the world's most powerful city. Philly is like the forgotten stepchild that sits all alone and needs to find something -- anything! -- to distract or entertain itself. So, it has sports and the weather. That's it.
But here's the thing about the weather. We have even less control over it than the outcome of a sports contest. So, if it's hot, wear shorts a tee and flip flops and stay out of the sun. If it rains, take an umbrella. It it's cold, bundle up. If it snows . . . . OMG! . . . . did someday say SNOW? Quick, get that lawn chair and put it in the street to save our parking place and guard it with your life!
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