"I've never seen snow before!"

Dave1982 · #1 04-04-2009, 12:08 AM

Peppergirl's story about tickets and warnings reminded me of this.

I saw one of my police friends the other day for the first time this year, and he told me about this idiot he pulled over a couple months ago.

The guy was from California, and was driving shortly after a snowstorm with what my friend described as a "tank vision slit" worth of snow cleared off the windshield, and that's it. The rest of the windshield and all the other windows were completely covered in snow.

Friend: Do you know why I pulled you over?

Idiot: No.

Friend: Well, can you see to drive with the windows like that?

Idiot: Yes.

Friend: Really? You mean to tell me that you can see in front, to the rear, AND to the side like this?

Idiot: Well.....no.

Friend: Alright then, you can go ahead and clear off the rest of the car. I'll wait.

Idiot:......................

Friend:..................Well?

Idiot: What, now?

Friend: Listen, I already have the ticket completely filled out except for the FINE amount. If you clear off the car right now, it'll be a written warning.

Idiot: Oh, ok.

Well, Mr. California hadn't thought to bring gloves on his trip to Massachusetts, so he got to clear off the snow with his bare hands. He also said "I've never seen snow before, so I didn't know what to do."

PLEASE tell me that not all Californians are this dumb.

By the way, he said the fine would have been $35.

RootedPhoenix · #2 04-04-2009, 12:52 AM

No, not all Californians are. Unfortunately, the "flatlander" jokes in the area wouldn't exist without people like this guy.

You got quite the winner.

tropicsgoddess · #3 04-04-2009, 01:34 AM

I've never been in snow nor have I seen snow in real life, but it's common sense to PREPARE yourself ahead of time. What a dolt!

BookstoreEscapee · #4 04-04-2009, 04:30 AM

He figured out enough to clear off a slit in the windshield but couldn't think to clear off the rest?

RecoveringKinkoid · #5 04-04-2009, 04:50 AM

Well, if he didn't have anything to clear it with, no gloves, and no experience, it really doesn't suprise me all that much that he really didn't know what to do.

I mean, I guess I could say that clearing the windows is a no-brainer, but I once hit the highway with a four inch deep plank of snow on the roof of my van, which then exploded all over the windsheild of the car behind me, being driven by a friend from Massachusets.

Yeah, he laughed his ass off at me (no harm done, thank God). You could call that a no brainer, too, but honestly, it didn't occur to us to get rid of the snow on the roof. It hardly ever snows here, and when it does, it rarely sticks at all. Nobody ever has a thick blanket of snow on their roof like that.

Cat · #6 04-05-2009, 01:50 PM

LOL, that is wonderful

Being a New Englander I got a good chuckle (though to the CA guy's credit....I would freak out in the tiniest of earth quakes)

Reminds me of when I was looking at schools in FL.....FSU had a great meteorology program, so I toured the campus with my dad. It was a cold snap (for them) in Tallahassee, and we had ice on out rental car. Our guide comment on this "strange" weather, saying, "Yeah, when I woke up this morning...there was this stuff on my car...I had no idea what it was!" Umm...the ice? hahahha.

(there were ice scrapers in the rental car, thankfully)

AdminAssistant · #7 04-05-2009, 04:19 PM

As a Southern gal in the Midwest, I get this every winter. I don't like driving on icy/snowy roads. So, when I have to, I drive very slowly. Apparently, in Kansas, icy/snowy roads means it's time to reinact the Indianapolis 500. People ride my ass, yell, honk. I don't care. I'm not risking my neck on icy, snowy, hilly roads that haven't been salted yet.

And the friends who love to mock me when I'm all bundled up, shivering, miserable. I just wait for the summer when I can kick back and get my turn at a chuckle - y'know when it's so hot at 95 degrees with 80 percent humidity and there's three mosquitoes outside, so there must be a swarm.

Jester · #8 04-05-2009, 04:58 PM

Living here in Florida, I actually have met many people who have never seen snow other than on television, and frankly, would NOT know how to deal with it. Yes, common sense is that you clear off your windows more than a tank slit, but when you are dealing with something you have never dealt with before, it's kind of hard to prepare for it. I still remember the Fourth of July I spent in San Francisco in 1999. I was prepared for it wardrobe-wise, but not mentally.....that was just freaky how cold it got that night. So while Mr. California was kind of a knob, I can kind of see where he's coming from.

protege · #9 04-05-2009, 06:59 PM

I'm sure that if the CA driver (aka a "fucking tourist" locally) would have been part of my morning commute...someone would have thrown a snowball at him. Seriously, every year, there are people from out of state (usually college students) who proceed to drive a whopping 5mph on perfectly-clear roads. I've actually seen frustrated drives reach out their windows, grab some snow off the roof, and hurl it at the offender when they pass

Chanlin · #10 04-05-2009, 10:45 PM

Quote:

Quoth RecoveringKinkoid

but honestly, it didn't occur to us to get rid of the snow on the roof.

Wait, you're supposed to clear the roof off too?

Around here its very common to see people driving at normal speeds with an inch of snow on the roads and snow blowing all over the place off their car.

Although we have our fair share of people that should know better that do stupid things to. I've had a local driver pass me, spin out hit the ditch, back out, pass me again and repeat that process. Finally after the third time a cop happened to see what he was doing and pulled him over.

As for the CA guy with not gloves and no scraper I'd do the bare minimum to be able to see also cause in case ya haven't noticed when it snows its usually really really cold out. Add clearing off snow with your bare hands and your lucky to be able to feel them after 10 minutes.