Snow Emergency

We are getting hammered by snow where I live, about 100 miles North of Chicago. In fact, the whole State is under a state of emergency. This morning before the BIG snow storm hit, our snow blower broke. So I wound up helping my mom shovel snow with the old-fashioned way for a while, then I got dressed for work and drove to the grocery for some soup ingredients on my way to work.

By the way, if anybody has a flame-thrower they would like to donate to me, I will gladly use it on the small mountains of snow at the end of our driveway. Every time a snow plow drives down our street, it pushes more snow into the end of the driveway. It is really quite frustrating.

I left for work early because driving is very treacherous on newly snowy roads. But I left just a little too early. As I headed down the big hill to the expressway, my cell phone rang.  Reaching into my purse, fumbling for the phone, I saw the call was from my mom.

"Mom?" I wondered. "But I just left...and she was on the phone when I did. What could be so important that she would hang up and call me on the road in this blizzard? There must be some kind of emergency!"

There was noplace to pull over, with all the snow on the roads, for about half a mile and I did not want to wait to call if Mom needed me that urgently. Looking back and forth between my cell and the road, I risked life and limb trying to punch buttons that would not push so that I could unlock my phone to call my mother back.

Just as I got the phone unlocked (and another car honked and passed me), it rang. It was Mom again. See?? Something was definitely urgently wrong or she would not be so desperately trying to contact me.

"Hi, Mom. What's up?"

"Your work called. They said not to go in today."

This snow emergency was no emergency. It was definitely not a call worth risking my life to answer. After I received it, I renewed my resolve to answer the phone ONLY for my children while I am driving.