The Chaos, and Unexpected Pleasures, of an Atlanta Snowstorm

Having a downtown Atlanta office at the top of a 36-story, all-glass building gave our company an incredible view of what happened in Atlanta yesterday. A winter storm slammed the southeast, causing gridlock and chaos throughout the region. We saw the two inches of snow come in quickly and noticed traffic everywhere came to a dead stop.

We told everyone to go home, but after I happened to be at CNN/Headline News to comment on a divorce story, they asked if I could stay for a different show since guests were having a hard time getting downtown. I did, and then I eventually decided to try to drive home. There were no hotel rooms downtown and even though the thought of sleeping at the office sounded like an adventure, I wanted to experience the snow with my family, since it so rarely happens here.

I did buy two Arby’s sandwiches at CNN Center in case I got stuck for hours in my car (maybe part of me was hoping I’d have an excuse to eat junk food?). The whole drive home, one thought kept running through my mind: “Am I crazy? Why did I leave a perfectly safe and warm building with emergency generators and resources to drive in this stuff?” My fairly large car slid, drifted, stopped and did everything in the world to convince me I would be one of the thousands of Atlantans who would spend the night in their car on the side of the road.

Through a miraculous series of events -- sliding backwards until my tires got a grip, making a U-Turn on Peachtree Street, getting stuck perpendicular to traffic for five minutes before getting loose, going uphill and realizing my mistake, letting the car go backwards to the previous street and making a 90-degree turn -- I ended up at the top of my steep driveway. That was my final decision: to park on the street or risk it? I remotely opened the garage door and chanced it and it all worked out.

Of course, it is easy to blame “The Government” for this mess. We do it all the time. But the truth is, this is such a rare occurrence in Atlanta, that the government probably saved a lot of taxpayer dollars NOT having a full fleet of snow plows consistently maintained and ready-to-go, which would only be used once every few years.

The news reports and internet information was available to everyone and individuals must accept some responsibility and not always blame “the government." People could have and should have gotten home well before the weather hit. Especially those who don’t trust the government to help them.

That being said, of course the “government” -- which is all of us -- should be as responsive as possible. When people, citizens, and taxpayers are stuck in the freezing cold in their cars on government highways and roads, something could be done better. It is easy to second guess, but I think our leaders know things could have been improved and hopefully will use this storm as an opportunity to reevaluate our priorities and where taxpayer money is best spent.

As for me, I still feel lucky, or as my grandfather used to say,"like I caught lightning in a bottle." After getting home yesterday, my wife, daughter and I watched the news and ate the emergency Arby’s I had brought along.

When we woke up, it was clear from the news and from looking outside that we were not going to be driving anywhere soon. I finally had the opportunity to make my daughter watch reruns of my favorite show growing up ... "Gilligan’s Island," which she loved and made me watch five in a row. Then, needing to feed my family, my 7-year-old daughter and I decided to rough it by bundling up and walking to the grocery store. It was heaven. When you only get snow once every few years, no matter how inconvenient it is, you appreciate it, especially when seeing it through the eyes of a child.

She was fascinated and coined phrases such as “flurrying” and “footsledding." On the way back, a neighbor asked me what people who needed a divorce today were going to do (since I was not in the office)? I said I guess there’ll be a divorce stoppage, and wouldn’t it be nice if that lasted a long time? We got back, cooked up a quick meal, and then went out to acquiesce to my daughter’s request (which she made at least ten times along our walk) to have a snowball fight. Of course you can guess who won (her), but if winning is defined by enjoying an unexpected day at home with my wife and daughter, watching "Gilligan’s Island" reruns and a snowball fight, then I definitely won.

Photos: Randy Kessler