Maryland, or at least the part east of Hagerstown, is not known as an especially snow tolerant place. The mere threat of snow in the forecast has been known to cancel school days, close government offices and unnerve adults. So there is something noteworthy that as Maryland and much of the Northeast got socked with its most significant winter storm in years, that many K-12 public school students were dutifully attending class Monday, and many adults were diligently working away at their jobs, too — albeit virtually for both.
Call it the most productive snowstorm in state history, workwise. Still, there’s something weird when so much of the normal expectation for winter storms is turned upside down. Private schools — those centers of learning that were just recently highlighted by the state’s union-bashing governor as stalwart defenders of education because they elected to maintain in-person instruction — shut their doors, while public school’s virtual learning continued for at least part of the day. The hospitality industry, which normally takes a beating when roads become impassable, could shrug it off since they’ve been on the receiving end of such misfortune for months now. And what about all those companies with stay-at-home workers tied to their employers by an umbilical internet? Ho-hum, it’s just another day out of the office (assuming the power stays on). What kind of natural disaster is this?
That’s not to suggest there weren’t some people still horribly inconvenienced by all that snow and freezing rain. Hospital workers, bless them; police; firefighters; utility crews; snowplow and tow truck operators and other essential employees had to deal with messy roads and sidewalks. A lot of day care centers closed. But compared to any similar snowstorm that has taken place over the last century or so, life carried on beyond any reasonable (that is, pre-COVID-19 pandemic) expectation. We were already living a life of solitude and social distancing. What was a bunch of snow going to do? Make us more isolated? Is that even possible? Suddenly, the stuff that gets local TV forecasters so agitated seemed like the most over-hyped threat since the Y2K bug. Please, Mother Nature, we’re already hunkered down. This the best you got? For some homes, the biggest problem was the public-private split — one child enrolled in public schools warm and comfy at the desk, another attending private school getting sidewalk shovel duty. As Nelson Muntz on “The Simpsons” likes to say, “Ha ha!”
Still, there is more than one-time novelty here. Is it possible that Maryland will never again see a workday completely upended by snow? Post-pandemic, it seems likely that employers and schools alike will be far more comfortable switching to virtual learning and working from home when events warrant. The technology has been available for years. Making the switch to virtual instruction was always daunting whether because of equity issues or teacher preparation. Employers similarly lacked the incentive or, perhaps, it was just the normal human tendency to resist change. Was an employee working from home really working? If there is a bright side to 2020-2021, it might be the demonstration that these obstacles can be overcome. Not perfectly. Not completely. But enough that it’s reasonable to assume that Americans are never going back to how the work/life mix used to be. Setting aside climate change, there will always be snow days of some sort, but will there ever again be the kind of snow days where so much of life was put on hold, not always pleasantly, but sometimes without any concern more serious than building a backyard snowman?
If so, that’s not an entirely welcome development. Vacation days are one thing, unexpected vacation days to enjoy the winter wonderland with the kids is another. Of course, there are more serious issues to consider in these dark days of winter. We might be mulling over the education losses, the continuing vaccine distribution woes, the economic worries that the pandemic has wrought. But let us also pause to remember carefree snow days past when snowball fights and sleeping late made it all rather fun. Pulling out the computer for 7 a.m. synchronous learning just doesn’t quite have that appeal. There’s even something to be said for shovel duty. Not a lot, mind you. But something. Enjoy it while you can.
The Baltimore Sun editorial board — made up of Opinion Editor Tricia Bishop, Deputy Editor Andrea K. McDaniels and writer Peter Jensen — offers opinions and analysis on news and issues relevant to readers. It is separate from the newsroom.