Friendly faces, everywhere

One thing I've noticed in the past five or six days is that 40-some inches of snow have made this town more of a comradeship. A nicer place to live. The number of hellos and even eye contact acknowledgements of my existence have at least tripled since Saturday. It's not clear why this is exactly, but I have theories.

The first is that Vermontesque weather is a kind of shared experience/hardship. It doesn't seem right to be an uncaring asshole just trying to get ahead when its totally shitty out. Plus the reminder that for all our technologies and cultural ephemera, old Mother Nature can still bring the pain, for lack of a better term. It's along the same lines as why hazing exists. This morning I walked around town shooting video of people shoveling back to their lives. Neighbors threw out their backs getting to their cars.

Wait for it ... Cars are to blame! Everyone is friendly because no one can drive anywhere. This weather has forced all but the snow-plow owning elite out of their cars and onto their feet, if they want to go places. Forced out of the glass and steel bubble and into face-to-face interaction, its actually kind of amazing how fast civility is restored. Granted, I have a somewhat warped perspective on this. Two years of interacting with cars as a person will do that. Dehumanizing. But the car-person dynamic is a topic for another day/non-internet writing.

Third theory: It's all just projection. It's possible that I am only recieving more positive vibes because I am sending more out. Because yeah, I am extremely happy about the snow. Records are awesome. Now no old people can talk shit about snow-related back in the day because this is the most snow in 150 years and no one is that old yet. But I can! Also there is schadenfreude in seeing everyone look pained while digging out. You know who wins when no one can drive? A man who never drives and wears waterproof boots.

So yeah, those are the theories. Proofs coming/not.