Reverse Culture Shock

An inch of snow is forecast to fall on the Atlanta area today — maybe even as many as three — and schools aren’t taking any chances. Several of them have closed already, even before a flake has fallen.

Our babysitter for tomorrow night has already thrown our dinner plans into doubt. She told us that she didn’t think she could drive to our place because she’s concerned about how safe the highway will be.

Her worries are probably warranted. When it snowed heavily last month, the roads stayed icy until the temperatures rose — no road salting occurred.

But as a veteran of upstate New York winters, I’m blown away by the snow fear factor here in Atlanta. I have never witnessed classes get cancelled because of snow, when there isn’t actually any snow — just forecasts.

And those have been wrong before.