Tomorrow is the first day of spring, my favorite season. Weeks ago it was warm, I got to wear T-shirts without a jacket, ride around with my windows down, and eat ice cream with out shivering. Though my dreams of warmth and flowers were crushed when it snowed just a couple of days ago because this Maryland weather keeps changing its mind. One day sunny and in the 70’s and literally the day after freezing and snowing, and now its starting to get warm again! Well I have had it because I’m not very fond of the cold and snow, although it can be beautiful, I cannot wait for it to go. But there are just a few things I need to say first.

People, please when it does snow clean off your car! And I don’t just mean the windows so you can see I mean everything, specifically the top. It is scary to be driving down the road behind a car and all of the sudden a huge heap of snow or in some cases ice is coming at your windshield. You may be in a rush, cold, or not feel like cleaning it all of, but think of the safety of others if you just take a couple of minutes because that block of frozen snow could break through a windshield completely, can cause a staid accident, and could seriously hurt someone. So think before just driving without cleaning your car off because I have seen way to many cases of this in the past week.

Second, please stay off the roads unless you absolutely have to. Do not try to explore to see what things look like, what the damages are, or any other reason. Wait until roads have cleared up and things are safer and even then proceed with caution. I believe that the only people who should be on the roads when there is a heavy snowstorm or after when the roads are bad are snowplows and emergency vehicles like police, fire trucks, and ambulances, etc. With all of that being said I also believe that businesses should have to close if the state or something says so. There should be some kind of enforcement, because most businesses just want to make the money and are actually putting more people in danger to drive. Honestly if a store stays open through a storm and forces so many employees to come in that they must pay, but you don’t get a lot of business because most people are staying in, is it really worth the money to even stay open? I feel like you would lose money, now I’m not a huge business or finances person, but I am all about safety and I believe it is not fair to tell your workers to risk their lives to get to work or be fired.

Above all else though I just want to give a huge thank you to all of the police officers, nurses, doctors, fire fighters, EMT’s, and snow removal workers. They work long hours with little sleep or food and risk their lives and most of the time does not get enough appreciation. Nurses find ways to drive to the hospital to care for those in need. Police officers still try their best to get to an emergency as fast as possible. And snow removers work the longest hours just to get cut of because they are going to slow. We appreciate you and all the work you do. Thank you.

So while I hope it does not snow again until next winter and maybe we can just skip that one too! If it does I hope more that people will begin to do or see these few issues I have brought up. Or keep them in mind for next year. Be smart, be safe, and be patient.