Non Essential Just Once - Snow Days and Delays at School and Work

The whole "snow day" thing is fascinating and mysterious. Can we have a little more transparency on the school snow delay process, please? Who are the people that make these decisions? Can I see a Google Image of their driveway? I ask, because it seems like they sometimes play CYA chicken - as in, last one to cancel wins.

I've got a collateral duty at my day job: I'm the guy who declares, two hour delay and/or non-essentials stay home. It's got a lot of faux-angst, sort of psuedo-verklempt. Often you do (or don't do) make the call when others would have gone the other way -- I'm okay with that, that's what judgement calls are all about. It's not rocket science. (I worked on a website for NASA once, their folks would say 'actually it is rocket science', they loved saying that.)

It's a funny thing to call somebody and say, non-essentials stay home, this means you. Nobody wants to be non-essential - non-essential people are downsized and let go - but everybody wants to stay home. I guess we want to be "non-essential just once".

I think delays and closures get so much attention because it makes all of us school children again in a way; we get to monitor the radio internet and see if the mysterious Delay Deities have smiled. It's the opposite of force majeure: an act of God that works to your advantage. It's like waiting to see if Santa came.

(146 delays/closings for Wednesday at this time.)
(Accolades to Center School District, first to announce a full closure.)