BAD WEATHER
It’s often said that in Britain we are not properly prepared for bad weather. Whilst there is some truth in this, there is a category of staff that has a routine perfected over decades.
With some staff adopting a “keep calm and carry on” attitude, they will battle against the worst the British weather can throw at them and arrive on time, despite having spent time putting on that extra jumper and finding those winter boots left somewhere at the back of the garage, ready for the next two or three days’ annual usage. The concept of winter tyres for cars being virtually unknown in this country, people take the precaution of setting off a few minutes earlier.
Or at least some do.
Because, as we know, the local weather forecast is not available to those who live closest to the workplace. They therefore explain with wide eyed astonishment when they finally do arrive, that “It’s snowed!”, a fact they were completely unaware of the previous night when they went to bed. The apocalyptic weather warnings that accompany anything other than “It’ll be mild, about average” forecasts for some reason did not penetrate these particular households.
Thus, the routine continues for another year. Arise at the same time. Follow the same pattern of getting ready. As the windows are blocked for some reason, only when the front door is opened does it become apparent that there might be tricky travelling conditions and that they might now need to get that thick winter coat out of the back of the wardrobe, dig out a pair of thick socks and woolly hat, and even find those gloves that always used to be in a particular coat pocket but now take some unearthing.
Inevitably setting off late, the walk to work (these staff almost always live within walking distance) now takes longer due to the 3 inches of snow and means they are, as always, incredibly grateful to those colleagues who do have access to weather reports and a view out of the window and therefore arrived on time. They show this gratitude by several times a day asking if they can leave early as their 15 minute walk home might now take 20 minutes instead.
