GMTS Newsletter: Whining about weather

Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012

Today, someone will complain about the weather.

They’ll complain about the lack of snow, or that the media talks too much about it, or that their kids want snow days, or that they don't, or that the city wasted money putting down salt. Because there’s just not that much snow out there.

Here’s the thing: there are no winners here. Lemme take it item by item.

-Snow Days: I have teacher friends and family members who are lamenting the fact that they haven’t had snow days so far this year. I get that. If the slightest number of flakes falling from the sky meant I could stay home and sleep in, I’d be doing a snow dance on a regular basis. But that’s not the case for the majority of us. Most of us have to work. So, really, snow days are even more of an inconvenience because in addition to having to drive in it, we also have to find out how to manage child care, along with the demands of regular, every day work. See? No winners here.

-The media overhypes winter weather: Sometimes the story is that there isn’t a story. Reporter Brian Yocono was live in Florence this morning to get a first-hand look at the weather there. Larry Handley pointed out that it was slightly colder to the south, so there was more of a chance of the snow actually sticking. He also said we’d get about a half an inch. He didn’t predict snow-mageddon or white death. But anyone worth a pound of goetta knows that even the slightest amount of snow could potentially turn our interstate system into a parking lot. So we covered it. When we went out there, we didn’t know if it was going to be bad, and it turns out it wasn’t.

That’s great news, by the way. And it’s also well, news.

The snow -- regardless of how much or how little we got -- is the big story of the morning. How many of us went to sleep last night thinking we’d have to scrape our cars and leave early for work, and woke up this morning and flipped on the TV, eager to see if that was true? Hence, our coverage. It’s interesting – some people complain that we cover weather too much, and yet when it snows or ices, weather is the top story on our website and our TV ratings spike. Hmm. Again, no winners here.

-Why are the roads so bad? There’s only an inch of snow!: The Tri-State’s traffic is as unpredictable as your cubicle mate’s gastrointestinal response to the new jalapeno hot cheese coney. You never know which way it’ll go. Sometimes, a couple of inches of snow only slows your commute by a minute or so. Other times, a quarter inch sends cars careening into guardrails. This is also why people complain that cities use too much salt (Save it for when we need it!). Or too little (Weren’t they prepared?). Once more, no winners here.

Weather is one of very few constants. We all experience it. We all love it when it’s great and hate it when it’s bad. We can talk about it to our 90-year-old neighbor, our 7-year-old niece, our pastor, our tattoo artist or our contractor. It’s the great equalizer.

And yes, today – someone will complain about the weather. Enjoy.

From Today’s Show:

-Peanut Butter, Chocolate and Nyquil?: Odd combination, yes. But apparently a guy from Eastern Kentucky didn’t think so. Police say he was wearing only boots when he broke into an IGA and covered himself in peanut butter and chocolate. Find out what he did with the Nyquil here .

-9 Against Breast Cancer:In our station’s ongoing efforts to try to prevent breast cancer, the St. Elizabeth mobile mammogram van is coming to Channel 9 tomorrow (the 9th of the month) from 12 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. If you have insurance, it’ll be billed, but if you don’t, a grant from the Komen Foundation will pay for it. We hope you’ll join us if you need one.

Today's Distracting Link:

Make your own word cloud. I very much enjoy this.

http://www.wordle.net/