February 2014

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On Wednesday, we were supposed to have snow starting around noon. Well, it was running a little late, so I thought I'd be safe staying at work till my regular 1:00 p.m. quitting time.

Wrong! What hadn't happened at all a half-hour earlier was coming down in sharp little flakes. After waiting about ten minutes for my bus, I realized it wasn't coming. I went back in the building, in hopes of finding my boss, but he had left before I got there. So I called a cab, which didn't come, either, even several hours later and long after I'd called back to make sure I was on their list.

So I called the boss at home and told him I was pretty sure I was there for the duration. He would have come to get me, but getting out of his neighborhood was not possible. He told me one of my coworkers was stuck in traffic coming home from her teaching job, and he was going to suggest to her that she stop at our building. She and I got in touch and either texted (traffic where she was was at a standstill; no texting-while-driving lecture needed), or talked, and pretty much agreed the smartest thing was for us to stay together in the building.

While I waited, I stayed in my office and posted to Facebook, as one does. I love that the friends who live in my computer were there to keep me connected to civilization.

On my way to work on Wednesday I had stopped and bought a few groceries, thinking I'd be snowed in on Thursday and possibly Friday. Smart move on my part...those groceries provided our supper that night and part of lunch on Thursday, plus enhanced what I already had at home when I finally got here. We also got into a jar of peanut butter we knew was there, and some cookies we found in the office refrigerator.

Coworker and I have been meaning to get together for a social time, because we like each other but have had most of our cinversations about work-related things. Even though this was not the sort of social time we had meant, we had a good time getting to know each other a little better. Bonus: there is a piano in the building. Coworker is a music teacher, and I play, so we had fun with that.

We both happen to be owls, so we stayed up late with our respective computers/phones, and made sure people who would want to know knew we were safe. Then we made good use of work-owned tablecloths and other linens to make ourselves comfortable in the boss's office (he has the best furniture, and was fine with us camping in there).

On Thursday, friends of hers who are skilled at driving in this mess offered to come get us to our respective homes. In my case, this involved helping me walk to the car and to my front door. I apologized for both being a complete wimp about ice and for having on dress shoes...but I really had not thought I'd be out in snow. Coworker went back by the office after dropping me, and got her car (which was in our parking lot). The friends followed her home, and helped (with some extra neighbors) when her car got stuck at one point. But all are now safe at home.

I am profoundly grateful that I had a safe, warm place to stay during the worst of the snowstorm. I enjoyed getting to spend the time with a friend, too, and am thinking the two people who helped us should be nominated for sainthood.

I stayed home today. If I can, I may try to get to Job 2's office tomorrow, but if I can't, I can't. I'm not going if enough melting hasn't happened to let me feel safe traveling.