"They Freak Out Down Here"

After nine and a half hours of driving with only one gas/bathroom/food break I made it back to the good ole Natural State. I was just in time to help in the three year old class at church and to see the start of the snow falling. An hour later with the last child bundled up for the snow and the classroom closed up I stepped outside to over an inch of snow covering my Jeep. I was super smart and used red tissue paper from a gift bag to clear the snow off all the side windows. At the first sign of slipping in the parking lot I threw the vehicle into four-wheel drive, thankful that I had it.

I got on the main road through town to go pick up pizza and head to the apartment of the friend who I am staying with until school starts. I forgot that people in the south don’t drive on snow. Ice sometimes, but snow is a phenomenon that rarely frequents the place. I have heard rumored that the entire state of Arkansas has somewhere around three snow plows…for the whole state.

I drove down the road at a five mile an hour pace despite melted tracks revealing the road from previous vehicles, because no one would move any faster. My console glowed that I was getting seven miles to the gallon. The oddest occurrence was people were not even attempting to stop at red lights. I watched as three vehicles rolled through a red light at five miles and hour with no attempt of braking.

When I got to the pizza place the girl taking my money exclaimed, “What’s wrong with your hand!”

“Oh I’m allergic to the cold, so my hands break out in hives when they are cold.” It’s a generic answer I am used to giving ever since the condition started in seventh grade gym class.

“That is not hives!” She replied matter-of-factly.

I looked down and the palm of my right hand was blaring red, like the stoplights no one was adhering to. I freaked out for moment until I realized what had happened.

“Crap, I used red tissue paper to knock the snow off my windows. Fail.”

Fast forward to the next day. My friend Kayla and I went out because she needed a shirt for a wedding she was going to. Schools were out despite the snow on the roads being melted, because they had called the cancellations at five pm the day before. One of the shops we went to the lady at the cash register was stunned at our presences.

“What are you doing out?” She said in a shocked voice.

“There is no snow on the road. They are completely clear.”

“But there is snow.”

I’m not even sure how to respond to this reaction. Maybe because I am from the north, but snow on the grass just does not seem like a viable reason for everything to come to a complete halt. However, that night we went out for a Walmart run then we were going to get Subway.

As we drove down the main road all the fast food restaurants were closed despite the roads being clear…all day. So when we got to the Walgreens at the end we stopped in and got a box of cereal for supper. When we told the cashier that everywhere was closed, he replied “Yeah they freak out down here.”

My emotional reaction to the South's reaction to snow.