Snowed In

I once lived every working person's worst nightmare. I got
snowed in at work. For 3 days. Oh sure, I got paid overtime for
it, and was given the rest of the week off...but still, 3 solid days
at work with no way to escape. Ugh...

I was working in a group home for adults with retardation at the
time. It really wasn't too bad. One of the residents was away at
the time, so it was just 2 guys, in their 50s. Pretty laid back
gents really. The one guy, his life revolved around coffee and
cigarettes...so he was pretty much set. We had food, we had
coffee, and we had smokes. The never-ending snow never
phased him in the slightest.

The other guy, he was pretty high functioning and felt that
keeping the walk and the driveway clear was his own personal
responsibility. No easy feat during a blizzard. Yet, he managed it.
Every few hours, he went outside, grabbed his shovel, and dug
in. It was pretty hilarious, really. Over 3 feet of snow on the
street and in the yard, and the walkway and driveway were
spotless. In a perfect world, this guy could've made a fortune in
landscaping and plowing!

I remember the morning well. I woke up, looked outside and
thought "How the hell am I going to get to work?" I walked down
to my car, and old Chevette, and tried to dig the tires out a
bit...but there was already over a foot of snow on the road, so it
wasn't going anywhere. I went back in the house, called my
boss to explain the situation, and she explained, in no uncertain
terms, that I was expected to make it in. I asked if she had
completely lost her mind, and she then read me the agency's
policy on the subject. I had to find a way in. I told her I would
most likely be late...and she'd have to deal with it.

A trip that would normally take 20 minutes, took over 3 hours. It
took me 20 minutes just to walk the 2 blocks to the main road to
try to catch a bus. Then the waiting began. The 1st bus never
showed. The 2nd bus came, and we got about a mile, and it got
stuck on a hill. The replacement bus finally got me into town.
Only 2 more buses from there!

The 2nd bus got me back out into the north hills. Trust me,
there is no rhyme or reason to the way buses are routed around
here. When I was let off the bus to wait for #3, I thought I was
going to freeze to death. Over an hour I waited, in the freezing
snow. My beard was literally frozen. I don't think I have ever
cursed as much as I did waiting for that bus.

Finally, I get off the bus at the top of the hill by the house. There
was a convenience store, so I figured I better stock up. I went
in, grabbed a few packs a smokes, a 2 liter bottle of Mt Dew, and
a couple bags of Doritos. With those supplies, I knew I'd be able
to sit out any storm. Really...at that point in my life, it was all I
needed.

Carrying these supplies down the steep hill to the house
proved, to say the least, entertaining. I've never had any
interest in skiing...and this was apparent as I nearly killed myself
trying to make my way down an ungodly steep, frozen, blizzard
-covered hill. Wet and frozen, I finally made it to the house...3
hours late.

I walked in and told the staff person there that I was there to
relieve them. Their shift was now, officially, over. They could go
home. HAHAHAHAHAHA Yeah right!

I was informed that I had 2 messages waiting for me. The 1st,
from my auntie (who lived with me at the time) that not 5
minutes after I left, my boss had called to tell me that I was no
longer expected to make it in to work. A state of emergency was
being declared due to the weather, and only necessary vehicles
would be permitted on the roads. The 2nd was from my boss,
asking me to call her when I got there...which you can bet your
ass I did!

In typical bureaucratic goofiness, she tried to explain to me that
I was expected to stay at the house until relieved. Well no shit. I
asked her about being paid overtime...she didn't have any sort
of satisfactory answer. I told her that without a guarantee of
overtime, I would resign on the spot, and she would be forced
(by policy) to come in a relieve me. We both knew that wasn't
going to happen, so she was forced to agree to my terms.
Overtime plus! I was given overtime for the rest of the week,
plus added vacation time. I then asked about the other staff
person, who was also stuck there, although relieved of duty by
yours truly. I suggested that it would only be fair to grant that
person the same. I could imagine this manager's mental
calculations of crumbling budgets...but again, she was forced
to agree. I had her repeat it all to the other staff person, and
then we proceeded to settle in for the duration.

So, how to spend a blizzard with 2 middle-aged guys with
special needs? The same way you would with anyone! Food,
more food, movies, and games!

Anyone who has ever worked in a group home know this: you
better know how to cook. If you don't, you're going to learn.

Special diets went out the window. We made enough food for an
army...because really, few things stave off weather-induced
boredom than comfort food. Homemade biscuits, stew, a
mountain of mashed potatoes, fried chicken, you name it...if it
was in the house, we cooked it! The state and county have
some 'unique' policies on leftovers...and we ignored those, as
any person with any level of common sense would. The only
routines we observed were medications. Those still applied.
Anything else...fuhgeddabowtit! We were going to make the
best of a bad situation...if it killed us!

The other staff person and I worked out an impromptu schedule
so that we could sleep at some point, and we made it work. At
one point, I phoned the convenience store, making sure they
were open, and one of the residents and I climbed our way back
up the hill to get more snacks! It was actually a fair bit of fun!
We grabbed some magazines too.

3 days of food, movies, and games like checkers...as well as
making snowmen, having snowballs fights, and basically just
having fun...and getting paid for it. That is how one handles
being snowed in.

Finally, the roads were cleared. The street the group home was
on was treacherously steep, and was one of the last to be
cleared. One of the other site managers finally came by to give
me a ride home. It was the least they could do. We were given
written commendations for our dedication to service, we were
given our overtime pay, and were given the rest of the week
off...as well as 2 extra days of vacation time.

While not something I'd want to relive, being snowed in at work
wasn't the worst thing I've lived through.