Thursday Thirteen

 

Some of you Northerners would say, "Nineteen degrees?  That's not cold!"  But let me explain why Texans don't like or deal well with temps below 40.

1.  We are used to hot weather, particularly in the bottom half of the state.  Anytime it gets below 70, there's a little nip in the air.  And anything below 40?  That's just crazy!

2.  We are not properly prepared with the tools of winter weather:  snow blowers, shovels, ice scrapers.  Not even the fun tools of winter:  sleds, for example.  We don't have them.

3.  We do not know how to drive in ice and snow, not to mention that we don't have the proper vehicles or tires for it.

4. To a Texan, winter clothing is a sweater or hoodie.  We tend not to have much in the way of winter clothing.

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5. We are used to picking out our Christmas trees while wearing shorts.  We aren't accustomed to cold.

6.  We are used to warm and humid air which keeps our skin looking nice.  This below-freezing weather we're having now dries out the skin and even causes it to crack in places.

7. We want to complain about our cold weather without hearing  from our Northern friends that it's 30 degrees colder there (wherever "there" may be). 

8.  Meteorologists get our hopes up by saying, "It might snow tomorrow."  It rarely does.  We're more likely to have ice or sleet, which is NO fun.

9. Grocery stores run out of everything quickly during a winter storm here, so unless you're the early bird, you're doing without for at least five days.

10. Freezing temperatures cause the power grid to surge and outages occur. A few minutes of a power outage usually turns into a few days.

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11. Freezing temperatures cause pipes to burst which creates a huge headache for the building or home owner (water damage, sheetrock and painting damage).  We aren't prepared for this any better than we're prepared for shoveling snow or scraping off ice.

12. Water treatment plants can't keep up with the higher demand requiring a boil mandate for water.

13. Grocery stores, restaurants, doctor's offices, schools, and retail businesses cannot be open when there is no power or water meaning 1) people can't get necessary supplies, 2) patients can't get treatment, 3)people can't get food, 4) and lives are generally put on hold for a week or so. (source)

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