So let’s just cut to the chase and address 
the 800-lb gorilla in the snowbank.
This is crazy. This is unprecedented, unrelenting, snow-covered craziness. I don’t know how you all feel, but I for one may lose it. Snow madness is setting in.
We’ve all lived through bad winters and big snowstorms before. We’ve all toughed it out and put on our scrappy, tough New Englander game-face even if we’re not native New Englanders. It’s what you do and who you become when you live in Boston. We’re hardy. We dig out, carry on, and endure. As the man says, “Just do your job.”
But this is different. This run of weather we are experiencing, Snowpocalypse 2015, is above and beyond the worst we have known. The numbers, while staggering, only tell part of the story. The real brutality comes more from the compiling effects of these persistent storms. The impassable roads, mountainous snowbanks, and maddening gridlock. Snowplows that just seem to make it worse and not better. Ice chunks raining down from above. And don’t forget the cabin fever; that’s a uniquely fun form of insanity. It’s all truly surreal. Have we been cursed by a vengeful Norse god? We did what Belichick said, so why is this happening to us?
At the moment, we are still in the middle of it, trying to dig out and stop the bleeding. Making sense of Snowpocalypse 2015 is a luxury for warmer days that hopefully lie ahead. Until then, short on answers, here are just a few random observations and delirious thoughts on coping.
Snow Fatigue
By now, we know all too well the symptoms of snow fatigue. Feeling beaten down, disoriented, physically sore, and mentally exhausted. Dreading even the sight of snowflakes. Realizing there is no escape from this mess, at least until Science invents a way to teleport people to Jamaica (come on Science, get to work on that already).
To deal with my own snow fatigue, I have resorted to tricking myself. The Buddhists say, “Your focus determines your reality.” Here are some ways I’ve found to alter my snowy reality:
- Make tropical drinks and listen to reggae.
- Go to the 3rd floor of my house where it’s warmest and stay there as long as possible.
- Pretend I won the lottery and shop online for real estate in the Caribbean.
- Let our pug sit on my lap and steal his body heat.
- Watch old movies – they harken back to a simpler time without worries or responsibilities. I’d recommend “Viva Las Vegas” or anything with Humphrey Bogart.
- After getting bored with reggae, switch to Jimmy Buffet, Zac Brown, or ZZ Top. Nothing says warm weather like the live version of ‘Cheap Sunglasses’.
Crisis Management
A wise man once said, “Everyone’s got a plan, until they get punched in the face.” That wise man was Mike Tyson. It’s tempting to think he was just talking about boxing. But the past few weeks have been our own punch in the face. And I believe I understand the visceral wisdom in his words.
Organizations and individuals try to be prepared, for anything, for the worst. You can plan for the risk of this problem or that crisis and develop contingency procedures. But history shows us, you cannot plan for everything. Something completely unexpected and inconceivable always comes along to flip over the apple cart and destroy our neatly organized spreadsheets.
In these times, nothing is a given. There are no foundations to rely on. (I mean this literally too. I had to shovel off the flat roof over our kitchen, because NECN says it might collapse.) Without any plan in place, all that is left is the instinct to fight on. Raw determination and sneaky adaptation. Dump the snow in the harbor, sure, why not? There’s no place else left to put it. Over at MIT, they must have secret snow-melting lasers in some lab there. Let’s bust those out and let them rip. Give one to Iron Mike. I bet he’d be good with a secret snow-melting laser.