"Weather-related delivery delays . . . "

7:02 a.m. on January 7, 2016,  in Winston-Salem, N.C

       We have had (are having) a "weather event" in North Carolina.  Much of the state has been under a Winter Storm warning.  There are 7-9" of snow on the ground here and it is still snowing.  Other parts of the state had been alerted to comparable amounts but a shift in atmospheric conditions changed that primarily to ice and sleet. Raleigh's failed forecast of 6-8 inches led one person to complain that local meteorologist "have as much in common as 2016 pollsters".

  Snow, ice, or sleet all make driving even more treacherous for us winter-driving-challenged-Southerners. Two-hundred-sixty (260) automobile crashes had already been reported in the state by early this morning. The Raleigh News and Observer's website today has this story: "N&O experiences weather-related delivery delays" and gave assurances that "our carriers are making every effort to deliver your newspaper as quickly and safely as possible."  Reading that evoked a 40 year old memory.

     While teaching at a small liberal arts college in the Eastern part of the state, I had an early morning newspaper delivery route as a way to supplement income.  The subscription rates have long since disappeared from recollection but I do remember that the option to pay the monthly fee was considerably less that paying on per diem basis which was something like fifty cents per copy.

    Snow storms in Eastern North Carolina are relatively rare but when a big one occurs, life is pretty much paralyzed for a time.  Such it was sometime in the late 1970's. When the courier dropped off my bundles early that morning, the roads were already coated / glazed with significant icing.  After a few minutes of folding papers, I concluded that safety and common sense needed to prevail and I went back into my house. And, soon, I received a call demanding to know "where is my newspaper" and I answered (kindly, I hope) that it was on my front porch and he was free to come pick it up.

     But the biggest "Wow ! Can you believe that !" came at the end of the monthly collection period when a colleague, Dr. S, remitted her fee and instead of the monthly amount had deducted for the missed delivery. I suppressed the urge to rebill her at the daily rate for the number of deliveries she had received. Perhaps all that snow had done something amiss in her humanity circuitry. I remember deciding that if she need that  50 cents that much, she needed it more than I did.
   
   Stay warm, dry and safe if possible.
      
       Satchel