Overreaction to weather

C

Caveat

Registered User
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Well it didn't take long.

Yes, I know things are very bad and I know commuting can be difficult - even close to impossible, and I know we are running out of grit/salt but please, a bit of perspective here.

Listening to some people you'd swear it was that movie, The day after tomorrow.

People phoning in saying they can't get into work (it's the new swine flu in tems of excuses)- when I know for a fact that they can, easily, because I travel the same route.

People literally afraid to leave their houses - young, fit people.

etc

I accept that some places are worse hit than others and that things can be very difficult for a number of reasons, but in many cases, I really wish people would just get on with it and be sensible.
 
Where would the fun in that be! We need our dramas.

On the flip side of all the dossers, I know people who have made extraordinary sacrifices to make sure they were available for work.
 
I'm afraid its the new generation of useless people who have been bred in this country (UK also suffering with a lot of them too).

Yes its cold, but there's things called coats, scarves, hats and gloves. Put them on and get out there. Its only between -1 and -5. At night, at its very worst, it tends to be down around -10.

OK so the roads are slippery, but they are passable if you drive with some care. But its easier to phone into work and say you can't make it in. Means you can lie in your pit and watch more daytime TV.

As I mentioned in other threads, this country is one big moan. I hate the cold weather, the ice and the difficult driving, but I have been able to live my life as normal since this all arrived. So can everyone else of normal age and health, but its an easy excuse to grab.

I see plenty of old people out walking to their local shops, and driving around, both rurally and in the towns. But all these in their 20s, 30s, 40s etc can't manage to get to work !!
 
Caveat said:
People phoning in saying they can't get into work (it's the new swine flu in tems of excuses)- when I know for a fact that they can, easily, because I travel the same route.
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You dont know how their car handles in these conditions, nor what their actual estate is like.

I drive a crappy old fiesta. On wednesday going home I came across a big fancy 07 BMW ahead of me on a hill. He couldnt get up the hill, wheels slipping all over, back of car flipping from side to side. I waited 10 minutes and eventually he got up it. I was worried about my cars ability to do it after watching him. No problem to me, I just drove along fine. He must have had rear wheel drive.

The entrance to my estate is abandoned car city - big hill, practically impassable.

So while main roads may be ok to drive on, if you cant get out of your estate or your car is rear wheel drive - then I can sympathise with people staying home and safe.

I am in work though
 
So while main roads may be ok to drive on, if you cant get out of your estate or your car is rear wheel drive - then I can sympathise with people staying home and safe.
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If you cant get out of your estate, why not walk to the main road and get the bus? If you must drive, park your car somewhere else outside your estate within walking distance and walk the few hundred yards to/from your house. There have been some better days in the past 3 weeks where there has been some thaw and you could drive slowly on the majority of minor roads - given the weather forcast, there is no excuse for people who need their cars for work not moving them during these thaws.

I'm with Caveat on this issue - roads/footpaths in my estate are full of snow/ice, but it hasnt stopped me going to work or living a normal life. Only impact I've had is from whingers making excuses for not working.
 
csirl said:
This takes the p1ss. If you cant get out of your estate, why not walk to the main road and get the bus?
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Not everyone has access to public transport (I dont even when theres no snow!!).

Mind you, I can work from home so if I do stay home a days work still gets done.
 
csirl said:
This takes the p1ss. If you cant get out of your estate, why not walk to the main road and get the bus?...
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Because quite possibly the estate is not served by dublin bus due to the weather? If you look at this page you can see there is a lot of cancelations: [broken link removed]
 
DublinTexas said:
Because quite possibly the estate is not served by dublin bus due to the weather? If you look at this page you can see there is a lot of cancelations: [broken link removed]
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I use Dublin Bus most days. The routes in my area are on this list and arent going into housing estates. Doesnt stop me from walking a few hundred yards to the main road to get the bus. I'm familiar with a lot of the bus routes on this list. Very very few have been curtailed to the extent that the vast majority of passengers are not within reasonable walking distance of a stop that is operational.
 

It depends on where you live. The snow is much worse in some areas than others, and some areas are not being serviced by buses at the moment. I know that some people use the snow as an excuse to pamper themselves and stay at home on the couch watching telly and that can be annoying. But it's also annoying if you live in an area that's been particularly hard hit and other people who haven't been as hard hit start making out that you're exaggerating or just being lazy or whatever. There is a happy medium between taking advantage of the snow and being sensible. eg I don't see anything praisworthy about making superhuman efforts to get into the city to work and staying until 5 and then discovering there's no buses going up your way, it's way too far to walk and so someone has to risk life and limb driving into town to collect you.
 
With 3 weeks left to my baby's birth I'd seriously object to anyone calling me overreacting if I don't sit in my car and take the journey which instead of the usual 40 minutes took me 2.5 to 3 hours on Christmas Eve and last time on Wednesday. If I can be as effective working from home, because I have the same network availability and my work laptop, why should I travel? Also, this is not about being afraid of cold, I was happy to take a walk over the couple of last days and enjoyed the snow - I'm used to other winter temperatures where I come from. However, it's the absolute chaos and the fact that the roads are untreated, slippery and dangerous that deter me.
 
Not being melodramatic. Just think people who make a big deal of going to work no matter how difficult, and then suddenly find themselves stranded in town and expect their OH/neighbour/family member to slip and slide in their car down icy sideroads that the buses won't even use, (and yes, taking a risk) to come and bring them home, then congratulate themselves on not being a wimp because they went to work, are a complete pain in the a*se Especially when they then start criticising other people for not doing the same.
Not directing the above at anyone on here in particular, but I just don't necessarily think that everyone who makes it into work in the snow is wonderful and that everyone who doesn't is lazy and workshy.
 

+1.
There are more factors involved than just getting yourself from A to B, some people have to get children to and from creche if they do to go to work, meaning that it may not be possible to just dump the car a couple of miles from home and walk the rest of it, the children may be too small to be able to walk with the parent.

Im with Liaconn, I think each individual has to make a sensible decision. My only way of getting to work is to drive, there is no public transport I could take, I cant use my bike at the moment, and if its a choice between risking an accident getting out onto main roads, taking 4 times as long for the journey and working from home - Id prefer to work from home.
 
truthseeker said:
You dont know how their car handles in these conditions, nor what their actual estate is like.
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Very good point that. The car/tyre combination is very important. Front wheel drive manuals work a lot better, narrower the wheels the better and thread pattern plays a huge role. My 225s with no cross-threading are pretty much useless, can't even make it up the <5 degree incline on my drive way!

But I'm not out calling for every little road to be gritted and clear. We don't have the infrastructure to do this, and for how often we experience these conditions, it really doesn't make sense to make that investment.
Leo
 
truthseeker said:
You dont know how their car handles in these conditions, nor what their actual estate is like.
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Well in my case I do - no estates, houses just off a main road within a mile of where I live. No hills, nothing.

Whilst I realise this won't apply to everyone, if you live within say, 5 miles of where you work (or even more) there is very little excuse for not turning up. If you feel you can't drive, get a bus. If there are no buses or they are not running, then walk.

And don't tell me every footpath in the country is like a sheet of glass because I know they are not.
 

It definitely doesnt apply to everyone. Mostly the distance involved would put people off walking.
The footpaths ARE like glass around my area, and my job, there have been a number of falls from people who did walk, one guy has cracked ribs.

I am wholly sympathetic to the weather conditions and people who may not feel safe to get to work. It may also be to do with how I prioritise my life, a job is only that, a job. Its not worth getting cracked ribs, crashed car etc for.
 
+1 Truthseeker.

If you can work from home or choose to take a day of your holiday allowance rather than undertake a ten mile round trip walking through snow to get to work I don't see anything wrong with that as long as you're not missing a crucial deadline or seriously letting somebody down. I know some people have to get to work but some people just make a big deal out of heroically making it in despite the snow even though there might be nothing on their desk that can't wait until tomorrow. That's fine, their choice, but when they then go around acting like a big hero or something I find them really annoying.
I'm in work today, by the way, in case anyone thinks I'm just making excuses.
 
truthseeker said:
It may also be to do with how I prioritise my life, a job is only that, a job. Its not worth getting cracked ribs, crashed car etc for.
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I feel exactly the same way. Believe me, if I thought I was in danger I wouldn't make the journey.

Here's one for you though - my wife commutes to Dublin every day for work. She travels over 50 miles each way but people who live only a few miles away "can't make it".

She says yes, things are bad in parts but nowhere near as bad as some eejits are making out. Some of her journey involves walking (a mile or so each way) which she is managing with no problems. She has been a little late the odd morning and a bit later home in the evening but hey, that's life - for now.
 
Well, at least its given us all a distraction from the January blues
 
All staff in my office are in. I did consider public transport but it would entail 2 buses with a wait in between and then the possibility of them not showing so I risked the car – had a right scare on Monday morning but am managing. No way would I walk (approx 5 miles) with the way the paths are in this cold. I’m already walking on a sprain and I slipped again yesterday. I like to think I’m committed but there is my line.
 
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