People whine, DC communicates, Metro less so

Government

People whine, DC communicates, Metro less so

by David Alpert • February 11, 2010 9:32 am

The region has now broken the all-time snow record, but that hasn't stopped criticism of nearly every government response, from plowing to transportation to trash collection. We need to be patient with authorities. What separates some agencies from others, however, is the degree of communication, and there WMATA earns a few slaps on the wrist.

Photo by tracktwentynine.

Chris Matthews criticized DC's snow handling, with support from Councilmember Harry Thomas, Jr. (Ward 5) who chastised the Mayor for not having "coordinated" with Councilmembers. Matthews said, "We had the weather of Buffalo with the snowplowing capability of Miami."

That's unfair. If we had the snowplowing capability of Miami, everything would have been closed all last week after the light snow of the previous weekend. As Michael Dresser noted, we don't have Buffalo's snow removal equipment, and machines like high-capacity snowblowers are "fiendishly expensive."

Mike DeBonis isn't amused by Councilmembers' "armchair Mayoring". Thomas, Marion Barry, and Kwame Brown all sent out press releases about how they would have done things differently, such as whether and how quickly to ask for federal aid. DeBonis praises one Councilmember's reaction: Tommy Wells asked constituents to send in reports of streets needing plowing, so his office could coordinate with the Mayor's to ensure that nobody gets missed.

The whining wasn't limited to national media figures who never otherwise pay attention to local issues or Councilmembers with a political axe to grind. DPW did a proactive job emailing every neighborhood listserv about trash collection, but many weren't satisfied. Residents with alley collections were asked to put trash out at the curb instead of behind the house; on the Brightwood list, resident Keith replied,

This is the single most ridiculous email I have read yet. If your trucks can't get down the alley's to collect the trash, how do you expect people to get out there and get their trash or super cans to the front? Over 3 1/2 feet of solid snow/ice piled up to the front door from the plows! Maybe you should take a drive down 14th street and come to see for yourself what a pathetic job has been done on our streets. ... Now you want US to put our cans in front for an "effort" get a life buddy. My trash can just pile up until which time your people can get out of the truck and do their job.

But Beth retorted:

All you people who are whining about having to take a trash bag out to the front of your house need to get over yourselves. This is a series of storms of historic proportions — yes, our normal systems are not adequate to ensure smooth operations and everyone's convenience. An awful lot of people have been working really hard to alleviate the storm's affects. Do you really want DC to spend the money to be ready every year for storms that come to this region once a century?

Fortunately, most residents of Brightwood agreed with Beth. Most residents are coping with the snow and being patient.

Metro, too, deserves our patience. Their infrastructure is not set up to operate in snow of this volume. Many other cities have more heating systems to handle snow, but those areas expect this kind of weather and spend money to plan for it. The problem with unpredictable weather, and the danger of even more unpredictable storms in the future due to climate change, is that we're not expecting it. If we knew this would happen next year, maybe the federal government could provide some of the $100 million it loses each day it's closed to bolster our transit systems' snowproofing.

Metro had to single-track across most of the system because they stored trains underground on other tracks. That caused substantial delays; a friend who commutes from Woodley Park downtown reports that on Tuesday, he had to wait about an hour and a half for a train that wasn't already jam-packed full.

Some of you have criticized the underground storage. Metro says that "Metro is storing almost half of its rail fleet underground to help protect the rail cars from the damage caused by ice and snow." I'm not a rail operations expert, but would just point out the New York City does the same thing; they just have express tracks, allowing them to keep running two-way service while storing cars.

Where Metro differed from other agencies was in its level of communication. DDOT put out several press releases each day, and Mayor Fenty was constantly on television and quoted in the press. John Catoe wasn't nearly so visible. It's true that Fenty can go overboard with his media visibility at times, but during this storm, that was reassuring.

Metro's news announcements did note that there would be long headways, but the service information page does not. The news releases also didn't explain the single-tracking until Wednesday.

It seems Metro could have done more to inform riders that trains were not running frequently, and explain why. At this point, they're still keeping us informed about the current service, but many people have been asking on neighborhood listservs, when does Metro currently expect to have more service running?

The people who really needed better communication were the passengers on the Blue Line train that hit a wire. Bright sparks "started spewing across the ... window," one witness told the Post, and the car began filling with smoke.

Monica Thompson, 43, said that after the train stopped passengers tried contacting the operator on the intercom system but failed to gain any insight into their fate.
"We're underground and you're not telling us anything to ease our mind. The first thing people thought was, 'Oh my God, we're going to die,' " she said. "People could have gotten trampled."
Tatum and others said that for the first half-hour, the only word from the train operator was, "Stand by, customers, stand by," and, "We will move momentarily."
"After almost 30 minutes, smoke, sparks, hysteria, we find out what happened — we hit a wire. WHAT??" Tatum wrote.

The train operator was almost surely spending his time trying to figure out what happened, what to do, and whether people were safe, which are the most important. When there's a major car or truck fire on the highway, the police don't manage to notify everyone, either. However, passengers were also understandably panicked and "stand by" is just not sufficient. The train operator could have at least shared something, like "the train is not on fire," or whatever he did know.

It would be helpful to get a better account in the coming weeks about what Metro's train operators usually know in a situation like this, and whether they have the time or the information to share more with passengers. Communication shouldn't be the lowest priority.

39 comments Share	— tags: Adrian Fenty, DC, DDOT, DPW, Harry Thomas Jr, Kwame Brown, Marion Barry, snow, Tommy Wells, WMATA

Limited Metrobus and Circulator service resume (Feb 11, 2010)
Should the federal government snowproof Metro? (Feb 11, 2010)
Sidewalks belong everywhere, even where Fenty friends live (Jul 1, 2009)
Metro crash roundup (Jun 23, 2009)
Metro actually works (sometimes) (Nov 19, 2007)

Comments

Is Catoe still working? He has been so invisible that I was thinking that his resignation is already effective, even though I previously thought he had a month or so left.

I agree with you on the griping. This is a huge snowstorm and governments are working around the clock to plow it out. It takes time.

by Omari on Feb 11, 2010 9:49 am

I drove on DC streets on Sunday. There WERE plowed but because so many people drove on them on saturday and sunday, the streets were frozen blocks of ice that no plow could have taken care of. In future storms we need to CLOSE the streets, so that they can be cleared and then re-opened and lowed down to pavement. It's annoying to see driveways shoveled down to black top- while the streets are frozen blocks of packed snow and ice because people insisted on driving all weekend.

by tom a. on Feb 11, 2010 10:02 am

The thing is that no city keeps running after getting hit with this kind of snow. It's just impossible. Think about it - the entire area just got blanketed with 40 inches of snow. You simply cannot move that out of the way instantly - it's not physically possible, even with the best equipment.

Where other areas have a leg up on DC is in dealing with the snow after it's on the ground, and a big part of that is the expectations of residents, and residents doing their part to help dig out. It's a snow culture, or snow etiquette (as put here in a comment yesterday).

I guess I shouldn't be surprised by the whining, but I wish it were targeted at things that are actually within control of the authorities.

by Alex B. on Feb 11, 2010 10:08 am

I don't know why David is being such an apologist for Metro.

Their response to the Blue Line incident was a total failure. Thirty minutes to let passengers know what was going on? Come on! That driver needs to be fired. And if he was just following Metro standard procedures, then whoever wrote those standard procedures needs to be fired.

And their failure to regularly update customers on what's going on is another example of their failure to understand how to interact with the public.

Catoe was just the first of many Metro executives, supervisors, and front-line workers that need to be fired. Until Metro's culture changes, nothing will get better.

by Fritz on Feb 11, 2010 10:12 am

And re: Harry Thomas kvetching on Chris Mathews' show - Somehow Thomas forget to mention that when the first round of the blizzard hit, he was hanging out with his frat brothers in Miami watching the Super Bowl.

And for Marion Barry - mayor during at least 2 major snowstorm debacles - to be giving snow management advice to anyone is extraordinarily rich. That man has no shame. Neither does Kwame Brown, who's been Tweeting non-stop about DC being a federal disaster area. Of course, it's "for the people" and he wouldn't even think of using that designation to bash Fenty.

by Fritz on Feb 11, 2010 10:16 am

Fritz: I wasn't meaning to apologize for Metro. They're the one agency I criticized in the post. I did make some adjustments to the last 2 paragraphs to make it clearer.

by David Alpert on Feb 11, 2010 10:18 am

So let's assume DC was able to dig out like Mathews wanted with clear arterials and neighborhood streets passable. What are the chances that the federal government would have still been shutdown due to suburban Virginia and Maryland's inability to do the same? Anyone have numbers on how many members of Congress, their staff and the federal workforce actually live within the city boundaries?

by jeff on Feb 11, 2010 10:23 am

I am laughing at your Woodley Park comment. It is spot on.

I went from Woodley Park to Cleveland Park yesterday and it ended up taking me 45 minutes to Cleveland Park and an HOUR from Cleveland Park back to Woodley.

I get delays but that was downright laughable

by Aloy on Feb 11, 2010 10:32 am

@Aloy: why didn't you just walk between those 2 stations? They are only 3/4 mile apart. Pretty sure that wouldn't take 45 mins to an hour, even with any snow in the way.

by Mark on Feb 11, 2010 10:43 am

Metro needs to get its act together. As of 11 this morning, their webpage still says "No bus service expected on Thursday". There is no announcement giving the current status of the busses, just an announcment stating what the expectations were as of Wednesday night.

by James on Feb 11, 2010 10:58 am

Here's the deal with metro.

"We will be moving momentarily"

is a fat lie. You can not say that if the train will not move within the next minute or less. That's what pisses people of.

If a driver would say: "

We are experiencing a mechanical problem. We have not determined the problem, but there is no danger at the time. Please be patient while we figure this out. I will update you soon."

People would be way less pissed of.

Furthermore, regarding the "station closed" sign in the picture. Those handwritten (and often misspelled) signs tend to piss me off too. Really? Metro can not preprint a few standard signs? Come on. This is basic organization folks. Every freaking store has an open/closed sign. Metro can buy a few too.

Same for the website. The info is abysmal. Metro should have standard emergency websites ready, where they only have to fill in the actual details. One for inclement weather, one for accidents, and one for terror. Again, simple organization.

by Jasper on Feb 11, 2010 11:25 am

WMATA needs to get there shit together not because of the service but because of the way they notify the public.

Take there website the flash part in the middle and the news section to the right say completely different things.

Different parts of the website contradict each other.

They need to do what other major sites do when something big happens; they put up a entire new home page and say exactly whats going on.

They could put up a new index page thats says everything and only have links to info that is needed at that time and return the site to normal after the problems are done.

Many sites do that such as microsoft, apple, oracle, foxnews, bbc, yahoo, msn, sky, etc or does WMATA outsource there site maintenance

When some portions of the above ground service are running and other were not there was no reason to why at first; you could probably figure out why but they should just go ahead and tell you.

Where was anyone from WMATA speaking to the media not one person from WMATA was on the news in person they spoke with everyone via phone where were they at home.

WMATA is not a consumer friendly company period.

by kk on Feb 11, 2010 11:35 am

@kk
there =/= their =/= they're

by Matt Johnson on Feb 11, 2010 11:41 am

Anyone else have a slight laugh at the call for patience in this post considering other posts on GGW?

by onetimed on Feb 11, 2010 11:58 am

So how many miles of express track does $400 million buy us?

This simply reinforces my belief that we need third and fourth tracks immediately to rectify basic design flaws in our system and Obama should be pushing this as part of the Jobs Bill.

by Redline SOS on Feb 11, 2010 12:16 pm

@Alex B.
"The thing is that no city keeps running after getting hit with this kind of snow. It's just impossible."

If you really believe that, I invite you to my home state of Minnesota. This kind of snow would not have phased the people of Minneapolis in the slightest. Between when I entered kindergarten and graduated from High School, school was delayed by 2 hours TWICE and canceled ONCE due to snow. I freely admit that Minnesota has better equipment, a better plan, and more experienced workers and citizens; but believe me, life can continue even when it snows.

by Gerber on Feb 11, 2010 12:18 pm

the BBC's Washington correspondent also got into the whining game... though being on the BBC, he had to tie it into a larger, more intelligent sounding theme...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markmardell/2010/02/the_limits_of_american_power.html

by Abraham Moussako on Feb 11, 2010 12:19 pm

The problem with many on the Brightwood list serve is their in experience with living anywhere where a city government does work! If you noticed carefully, just an hour or two after the debate over the trash being put on the streets in place of the alley's, DPW announced that there would be NO trash pickup. Going directly to the heart of what Keith said about poor management. So in reality, Fenty's dedication was less than the very listing that proclaimed his intentions.
DPW could have saved us all the aggravation by merely stating that trash would not be picked up this week in an effort to utilize all District employees for the purpose of maintaining our streets for the safety of our citizens.
Now that would have been planning, management and foresight all rolled into one!

by ward4 realizm on Feb 11, 2010 12:19 pm

Metro has to make its rail snow map highly visible on the sites front page when the curtailed service is in effect and easier to find when its not. You have to click four times to reach the map: 1) Getting Around; 2) Safety & Security; 3) Severe weather; 4) Using Metro in a Snowstorm.

And theres no link for it under Rail Maps.

Anyone have a rationale defending Metro's running the Blue Line on a different route than we're accustomed to -- as opposed to running Orange Line trains more frequently? On the snow map, they're the same exact route.

http://www.wmata.com/getting_around/safety_security/snowmap.cfm

by Dennis Jaffe on Feb 11, 2010 12:35 pm

@RedLineSOS:
$400M? About 2 miles worth. But it's not that simple to just build two new tracks underground and shoehorn them into the existing system.

A more efficient use of $400M would be to buy better snow-fighting equipment, build covers over railyards, or harden railcars against snow intake.

Of course, even if the full 106-mile system were able to remain open in a storm like this, the federal government might still choose to close during storms like this (thereby negating the $400M in savings). After all, roads will be blocked, commuter and Amtrak trains won't run, and sidewalks will be knee-deep in snow.

by Matt Johnson on Feb 11, 2010 12:40 pm

Living in Chevy Chase, some of the complaints have also lodged by folks with lots of time on their hands. Listserv members are complaining about Conn Avenue being in an appalling condition, the cashier at the Safeway allowing someone to go through with more than 15 items, the failure of the post office to deliver some paper bill statements, to whether the Wilson High School pool will be open. I was digging out my car on one of the side streets and would see cars leaving. I was still at it an hour and a half later a few of these same cars would return, one driver was holding a cup of Starbucks coffee while driving. Different set of priorities. Makes you wonder why the streets can't be plowed to the satisfaction of all. People insist on not altering their routines despite the fact it might inconvenience others, like the man I saw with a baby stroller trying to maneuver yesterday on the sidewalk. What is the purpose of bringing out the baby in this type of weather?

by Ann on Feb 11, 2010 12:42 pm

Funny you should mention Minneapolis, Gerber. I was born and raised in Minneapolis. And I had the same general experience as you with regard to snow delays.

The key difference is, of course, that Minneapolis gets all of its snow in smaller increments spread out over the entire winter. Large storms like this, dumping 30 inches of snow are extremely rare anywhere, but very much so in the great plains and the Midwest. Problems there have more to do with visibility, cold temps, and blowing snow.

Again, with 40 inches of snow on the ground in the span of 4-5 days, there's simply nothing you can do. Minneapolis got shut down by the 1991 Halloween Blizzard, which saw similar accumulations to this one (Minneapolis received ~29 inches of snow), and the city was just as disabled as DC has been.

There's simply a physical limit to how much snow you can deal with at one time. Any city hit with 40 inches in two distinct events in the span of 4-5 days will have issues. Period.

by Alex B. on Feb 11, 2010 12:58 pm

@Mark

Have you seen Conn. Ave? Especially yesterday? It was not walkable. I tried Tuesday when there was less snow and it took me forever to go half-a-mile and felt like I was climbing a mountain at times with all the sideways moving, falling over, etc....

by Aloy on Feb 11, 2010 1:09 pm

It's unfortunate that a city as important as Washington, DC gets completely shut down by a series of snowstorms, when many other cities deal with this amount of snow on a regular basis. With weather experts telling us that we can expect more of these storms in the future, why are we simply throwing up our hands and saying that Washington, DC officials shouldn't be expected to be prepared for "storms of historic proportions"? We should be talking about more creative solutions, such as cooperative agreements with states and municipalities with a surplus of snow removal equipment that would allow DC to bring in reinforcements in advance of major storms (at times when the same storms are not impacting neighboring areas). How hard would it be to drive a snow plow down from upstate New York or Pennsylvania for a few days? Instead of increasing our snow removal budget simply to allow for the purchase of more equipment/manpower, why not take a more cooperative approach? It works during major natural disasters,and during crop harvesting across the country - why not for snow removal? This isn't rocket science, it's logistics.

by Peter L. on Feb 11, 2010 1:21 pm

@Peter L.

It's unfortunate that a city as important as Washington, DC gets completely shut down by a series of snowstorms, when many other cities deal with this amount of snow on a regular basis.

This is simply false. Show me a city that takes 40"+ of snow in two distinct storms over the span of 5 days "on a regular basis."

Looking back to the previous example of Minneapolis - Minneapolis gets about 45 inches of snow on average every winter, but that total accumulates in many small storms that only leave a few inches on the ground. We just got about that much in a grand total of about 48 hours - with only 3 days in between storms.

by Alex B. on Feb 11, 2010 1:28 pm

@Alex B. For a visual response, go here:

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/er/buf/lakeffect/snowseason.html

But my point was targeted at increased cooperation among states and municipalities. We waste hundreds of millions of dollars every time we shut the city down at the slightest hint of a storm. Why not conduct some smart resource allocation and pay other states and cities to come remove snow for us when we need the extra help, and when their equipment is idle?

by Peter L. on Feb 11, 2010 1:41 pm

@Peter L

Where exactly do cities get 2 feet in one night followed by another storm a few days later? And still work the next few days?

I lived in Chicago and that city would have shut down for such a storm.

Any specific examples?

by Aloy on Feb 11, 2010 1:48 pm

You're missing my point, Peter. I'm talking about the challenge of dealing with a single storm that dumps a lot of snow on a city at one time - not the season-long average from the areas that get lots of lake-effect snow in Upstate New York. Even Buffalo will have a hiccup when hit with 30 inches of snow in 24 hours - and thats in a city that has the plowing infrastructure and the cultural awareness of how to deal with snow.

As for cooperation - why would someplace in PA send us their plows? The thing about these storms is that when they do happen, they hit a lot of places. They're going to want their plows for their own roads.

People seem to expect life to return to normal as soon as the snow stops. We just got dumped with the most snow in a season since they've been keeping records of this stuff. I don't know how I can make the point that this was exceptional any more clear.

by Alex B. on Feb 11, 2010 1:50 pm

@Alex B., and @ Aloy: Not denying that the storm was exceptional, for DC, and for most other cities. I'm not whining that DC should have been prepared for this, nor am I complaining about the quality of the current response.

My point is that going forward, we need to treat these kinds of extreme weather conditions not as the exception, but as within the bounds of normal. With GPS technology, and good networking, and with the institutional willingness to make it happen, it is not a stretch for a city with idle snow removal resources to deploy to a city like DC during a major weather event. And obviously, if the same storm is hitting Pittsburgh at the same time it is hitting DC, then no, we wouldn't expect Pittsburgh to help DC out. Power grids perform load balancing and resource coordination every hour of every day in reaction to weather conditions and electricity demand on a order of magnitude more complex than snowstorms, so we should be able to do the same with snow removal. Arranging a reimbursement system so that assets deploying to areas in need could get paid for their efforts wouldn't be difficult - it would be attractive to smaller towns and cities as a potential source of extra revenue. Shipping companies already do this, but in the private sector.

by Peter L. on Feb 11, 2010 2:10 pm

I'll complain about anything at the drop of a hat, warranted or not, but even I'm not saying a single word about the reaction to the snow. From what I've seen in Bethesda it is as adequate as can be expected. This is more snow than they've seen in over 100 yrs, they couldn't possibly have been prepared.

About the Blue Line incident:
I will blame WMATA employees easily for anything, but I doubt that driver was being lazy or shiftless. I think it's more likely he was trying to figure out what was going on and waiting to hear back any useful information from the control center. The only ding against him is the lack of communication with passengers.

Now about the Blue Line incident passengers:
I'm afraid they are all just Darwin Award nominees. They were in danger, had no information, and no expectation of being rescued. They should have taken action to save themselves and broken out of the train and done the best they could to survive. Now, they did end up surviving but no thanks to their own actions. Maybe if 5 minutes after the smoke a visible fire appeared then they would have evacuated, but would they need to be told to evacuate? With no instruction coming it's up to the individual to do what they have to.

Now what I find interesting is that no one went to the front car and knocked the non-communicating conductors door off the hinges to either get some information or check if he was dead. If he had information then he could give it, if he was dead then they should evacuate.

by James on Feb 11, 2010 2:21 pm

@Gerber, or anyone else, for that matter, who almost never had school cancelled for snow--

So how much snow was it during this one time that Minneapolis schools closed for snow?

by thm on Feb 11, 2010 2:44 pm

when did Washington, DC become an "important city?"

by tom a. on Feb 11, 2010 2:49 pm

Fair enough, Peter.

by Aloy on Feb 11, 2010 2:52 pm

Back when WMATA was a bus system there were some things that were different. WMATA (and before that DC Transit) was responsible for plowing bus routes (the District provided the trucks) while the District took responsibility for the other streets.

It had the effect of insuring that bus service was rapidly restored prior to many other streets being plowed. People could wait on digging out their autos because they were assured that bus service would continue running. The other difference was that chains were used on buses during heavy snowstorms and then removed as the pavement became clear. It was extremely rare that service was suspended on major arterials, although routes through narrow streets or on steep hills were often not run.

Adopting this approach doesn't do much to help Metrorail during major storms like we just experienced--there's not a good solution there other than to hope global warming doesn't bring alot of storms with over 8" of snow.

by kreeggo on Feb 11, 2010 3:43 pm

I fully concur, the nations capital and we are virtually shut down by not only a snow storm but poor management, and a lack of hand on approach to see that people do their jobs. It's nothing less. I have trucks (DPW) with 4 people riding around inside.
What good is 4 people to a truck?
Stop, get out and give each of them a shovel. Shovel out an intersection, a fire hydrant, or something that will make a difference.
I noticed a dump truck being loaded with snow down near the convention center, on a side street with no houses or offices.
The snow was being removed, while in our neighborhoods we were fighting snow and the piles of ice and snow thrown onto our cars and trucks by DPW plows. In my case with a circle across the street that is of no use to most of us in this type of weather, why not pile the snow up there and work to keep as little work as possible on the side of the street where we had to park.
This is a lack of training, oversight, and management.

A lot has been spent but in the end, did we get the level of service that we needed and should have gotten?

by ward4 realizm on Feb 11, 2010 4:04 pm

Maybe WMATA go could users a discount for the limited service; but i doubt in hell they would.

They could have just routed the bus lines along main roads and then traveling to the nearest metrostation avoiding all hills and steep grades and giving a discount for users to take the rail instead of bus its a win win.

WMATA gets more riders than they would in this weather and riders would get some service for areas with no service, i was trying to map out all the areas where there are no hills in DC, where metrobus is running and where metrorail is running.

by kk on Feb 11, 2010 6:23 pm

@David Alpert: I didn't say you were apologizing for them; I said you were being an apologist for them.

The "criticism" you made of Metro was so softly lobbed that most would have missed that it was actual criticism, rather than disappointment.

Unless Metro's strongest supporters - like this site - demand change from Metro, including more people being fired so that the bureaucratic culture of ignoring customers is finally done away with, nothing will change at Metro.

But saying somehting like we should wait a couple of weeks for Metro to let us know how its train operators should act in a train emergency is absolutely ridiculous. Metro should be letting us know RIGHT NOW. Not in a couple of weeks, not when they get around to it. But IMMEDIATELY after a major incident like this occurs.

Using the kid gloves on Metro and lightly tapping them on the wrist is hardly holding them accountable. For all the sound and fury this site spends on stuff like the plastic bag tax, shoveling sidewalks, and the externalities of parking, it should be using the same bullhorn to focus on an absolute basic element of Metro: CUSTOMER SAFETY.

by fritz on Feb 11, 2010 7:45 pm

People are clearly overreacting here. I actually am impressed with how well the Gaithersburg area was cleared in all three major storms we have had this year. Saturday was a major storm, but plows came through my secondary street by noon on Sunday and I was able to get out. That is less than 24 hours after the snow stopped.

As for Wednesday there was no way any city could have kept up with that. Visibility was about 100 feet and snow was blowing everywhere. However again I was able to get out by noon today.

I am not sure what else they could have done, pretty much everyone with a plow was out on the road, there was also both light and heavy construction equipment everywhere. We should be congratulating our governments for successfully bringing all this equipment to bear.

by Matt R on Feb 11, 2010 9:55 pm

Now, let see. People are over-reacting here but yet you tell us that by noon on Sunday your neighborhood had been plowed. Then you have no right to judge those that haven't seen a plow and that are still snowed in. Because you are not experiencing the same lack of service you can't fully judge their need to complain.

by ward4 realizm on Feb 11, 2010 10:04 pm