I woke up this morning to a fiery throat, thinking immediately, “Maybe I’ll come home early — as in, shortly after arrival — if we’re not terribly short-staffed.” Much to my delight, I looked outside and saw a powered sugar dusting on everything and thought, “No school, I’m sure.” And sure enough, no school. There’s less than an inch of snow on the ground, but no school.

I think back to the years I spent in Poland, buried in snow from December (sometimes November) to March. I believe we missed one day because of weather. If I recall correctly, students are not legally obliged to come to school if it’s colder than minus 18 Celsius (0 Fahrenheit), but many come anyway.

K laughs at the reaction here to the slightest bit of snow. There are two reasons, I explained to K. First, most places don’t have the equipment to remove snow city-wide. And given the fact that so few people have experience driving in snow, the slightest bit makes them nervous.

A colleague at work provided the second explanation: that there’s a certain phobia with local school boards about lawsuits, and so they cancel school at the slightest hint of bad weather.

Both reasons are completely foreign to K.

Many roads in Poland are literally packed with ice through most of the winter, so the thought of being spooked by a couple of centimeters of snow is absurd to her.

And the fear of lawsuits?

Only in America, she smiles.

Update

I went out for a walk at about eight. Suddenly, it was fairly clear why school was closed.

Just a few feet apart, three cars that slid off the road.