Journalists don’t get snow days

Published Wednesday, February 24, 2010

It’s amazing what a little snowfall can do in Alabama, but to see it twice in a week is almost unheard of.

Well, we’ve heard of it now.

We got a nice two to three inches of the white stuff two weeks ago. Once that melted, with exception of some snowmen around town, we got another batch of flurries three days later. Now, we've seen more snow just Wednesday morning.

It was strange watching the snow fall like it did here. Up north, it’s not that uncommon to see snow on top of snow. Northerners usually laugh at us when we shut down most of everything because of the snow.

Kids rarely get out of school for snow in the north because they are able to plow the roads. Here, schools and all other offices close just for the “threat” of snowfall even if it never pans out.

It was fun for me when I was in school, but now it’s just a hassle.

It just makes traffic go slower during the day.

It seemed like many had shut down work early, but we still had to put out a paper.

I’m not necessarily complaining about that because I enjoy getting breaking news in the next day’s issue, but you don’t get to sit back and watch the snow, or even play in it.

But it does show me that life doesn’t stop for events like this. The U.S. Postal Service used to have a motto that said through rain or sleet or dark of night, the mail must get through.

I kind of feel the same way about the newspaper business. News doesn’t stop for clock-out time, holidays or weekends. While I’ve been in the business, I’ve covered something at just about any hour of the day.

I’ve covered football games that didn’t get over until 10:30 or 11 at night. I’ve been at work before 8 a.m. to cover breakfasts and take student of the week pictures.

Wrecks and fires happen at all hours of the day whether it’s 3:30 a.m., 7 a.m., 5 p.m. or even 11 p.m.

We’re not the only ones that have this kind of a schedule.

Police officers, firefighters, nurses, doctors, water department employees, power line repairmen and numerous others work round the clock.

Granted, we don’t work all hours of the day all the time, but it can happen.

I still love the snow, but now it just means the snow is at least one story for the day, especially if I get to interview a dad and his son who drove all the way from Gainesville, Fla., just to play in the snow. (Yes, that did happen.)

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Brent Maze is Web editor of The Dadeville Record.