January 2016 Chit Chat

@LizzyNY wrote:Carolhathaway - The people who say we can't do anything could change their minds if someone offers them a solution. The people who won't do anything because it might cost them money are the ones who bother me.

Lizzy, I think you're right. It's just that people who say 'We can't' often do so because they don't want to change any of their habits or because there's no personal benefit for them.
Some years ago the German government offered an economic stimulus plan to help our automobile industry: Everybody who ordered a new car and took his old one to be scrapped got a premium of 2,500 Euros by the government. This worked much better than everybody had expected. So why don't they do the same for electronic driven cars to help them establish? Because our own automobile industry missed the trend, and there's also a big influence by the oil industry...

@LizzyNY wrote: a funnier note: NY has a "snow day" when Central Park is sprayed with man-made snow and people come to sled and ski and build snow men. All the fun things to do in the snow. This year it was cancelled because Jonas hit town and it was snowing!

So snow has to be a planned event, and so has the amount of snow you need and get?

We really have luxury problems, don't we?

Carolhathaway - To be fair, the snow day is really a way for city children to have a place to safely enjoy playing in the snow. Manhattan really isn't too kid-friendly when it comes to play spaces big enough for sledding and skiing. There hadn't been any snow this winter, so the only way to get any was to make it - until Jonas came to town. The storm was so bad they couldn't hold the event that day and since then it just hasn't been practical.

I guess it is a luxury, but I think every kid deserves a chance to play in the snow once in  while.

Lizzy,
sorry, I forgot how New York is like (it's been nearly 20 years since I'd been there, and I also live in a very rural area where we just fight snow on the roads, nowhere else). There's never enough space for kids to play, there's a lot of traffic everywhere, and snow is fun for a few minutes, everything slows down and is much quieter. But that lasts only a short time, and then it's just a gray thing on the ground which makes it difficult to walk because it's slippery.

So of course it makes sense to have an area where everybody can enjoy the snow and have fun and be safe...

Carolhathaway - I didn't take offense at what you said. It's the same here. Pretty for a minute, ugly for a month. I guess that's why having a snow event in the park makes sense to so many parents. I don't know who pays for it - probably our taxes - but it's one thing I don't mind paying for.

I wouldn't mind if they paid for this via our taxes as well. There are so many useless things our taxes are used for! And to show kids (and grown-ups as well of course) what snow and ice is useful for is surely not useless. If only those who grow up in the mountains, in Colorado or the Alps, get access to wintersports, that would be a real pity!