Shovel it yourselves next time, you bloody ingrates

Apparently, most of the SJR-reading population of the Springfield area is made up of total idiots.

Don’t get me started on the alleged “intelligence” of most of the commenters on the message boards. I’ve got a whole barrel of disrespect set aside for those imbeciles. I’m talking about something else this time.

See, every day, SJ-R.com posts these little polls in which anyone with internet access can take part. Some have to do with life in general, some have to do with global events, some local events, some sports. I think these polls are really kind of ridiculous for several reasons. First of all, sometimes the questions are kind of dumb (”Do you have an electric generator”?!). Secondly, for example- some “yes or no” questions don’t necessarily have simple “yes or no” answers, but that’s all SJ-R gives you from which to choose. And third, what is the point of them in the first place? Just to make us idiot readers think our opinions matter to anyone important, or to anyone period? It’s not like anybody is going to take our answers under advisement for anything. I can practically hear the conversation in the Bears’ front office now:

“Sorry, Rex, we were going to give you a three-year contract extension, but the readers of the State Journal-Register said we shouldn’t.”

Granted, that’s probably a good idea, so that was sort of a bad example, but hopefully you still get my point. How do our opinions matter on any of this? The SJ-R long ago established that their opinions are the only ones that matter to them. Is the City Council or the State Legislature going to be swayed on a vote, based on what “we” have to say? They’ve never listened to “We the People” before; why start now? Will the U of I football team somehow will themselves to play better in the Rose Bowl knowing “we” think they’ll win? I doubt it. I’m sure USC will absolutely sodomize the Illiniweks as expected, but that’s another story.

No don’t get me wrong- I’m all for differing opinions, with one main caveat: your opinion is neither right nor wrong, same as mine. Just simply stating something is an indisputable truth doesn’t make it so. There is a HUGE difference between being wrong (disputing a proven or at least accepted fact) and simply not believing what everyone else believes. Opinions, by their very definition, are neither right nor wrong. But people: let’s not get ridiculous.

Yesterday’s poll question was to rate the road crews’ job of getting the streets clear after the recent big snow we had. The results:

• 16.3% said “Excellent”
• 21.5% said “Good”
• 10.5% said “Fair”
• 51.8% said “Poor”

What? 51.8%?! Are you fuggin’ kidding me?! What- do you expect the crews to personally come clear a path from your driveway to anywhere you want to go until all the snow is gone? Give me a break, people- ever since the March ‘06 tornadoes, our city crews have been getting unceremoniously shit on by citizens, the local media, even their own aldermen. They have done outstanding jobs for many years now, but especially since the tornadoes hit. Between the tornadoes, December ’06’s ice storm, and the various snow emergencies we’ve had since, the crews, the fire department, and the police department have gone over and above normal people’s expectations.

I understand that human nature is such that people want themselves taken care of before anyone else. We’re a selfish bunch, on the whole. But come on, folks, be realistic. First of all, you sound like you expect some Samantha Stevens nose twitch to make all the snow and ice, downed trees, etc., magically disappear. It takes time, assholes. They are mortal men and women busting their asses to dig Springfield out from under very serious weather situations. They work 24/7 at it. With regard to the snow specifically, why send the crews out an hour after it starts snowing, when there ultimately winds up being 8 inches of snow dumped on the ground? Did you shovel or snow-blow your driveway 7 times, or did you wait until it was more or less all over and then tackle it? If you did the former, you’re far more ambitious (and have far more time on your hands) than I. During the post-tornado cleanup, I know of one neighborhood in town that several residents of which were all up in arms that there were IDOC inmate crews there. Look, you dumbasses, you act like they were going door-to-door unsupervised, looking for crimes to commit. Those inmates were there clearing trees and debris in YOUR neighborhood, helping YOU. You’re welcome. Ask the victims of the floods in ‘93 how they felt about inmates standing literally side by side and shoulder to shoulder with them, helping them fill and place sandbags for makeshift levees and what not. I recall that there was one inmate who said that “some lady brought me a cup of coffee like I was a regular person”. Wow- clearly a menace. Don’t get me wrong- I have very strong opinions on inmates and criminals, but holy shit, people. Talk about looking gift-horses in the mouth.

Then there is the notion that one side of town (or one income level, race, or whatever) somehow always gets “preferential” treatment from the crews. Anyone who has read this blog more than twice has probably picked up on how making a racial or other demographic issue out of nothing is one of my huge pet peeves. The tornadoes were locally the big catalyst of this ridiculous argument, as was Hurricane Katrina on a national scale. As I have stated ad nauseum over and over here, yes, Virginia, racism exists. That is a sad fact of life that will unfortunately never go away, as long as there are bigoted people (AND people who wantonly blindly play the racism/sexism/any other -ism card at will) in the world. Get over yourselves, people- stop looking for someone to blame for everything, especially in situations in which there is no blame to be placed. At least not where you’re placing it and not for the reasons you’re placing it. Oh- and drop this mentality of “racism is okay as long as you’re not white”. That contributes to the problem just as much as, if not more than, racism itself does.

As I said, it takes time to remove 8+ inches of snow and ice from the roads. Don’t like the snow and ice? Stay off the roads except when absolutely necessary (going to work, getting kids to school, whatever). Or move somewhere where it doesn’t snow. It’s the Midwest, people. It snows here. And we don’t even know what “winter” is- go experience a winter in Buffalo or Minnesota or somewhere like that. Then just maybe you’ll appreciate how tame 8 inches of snow is. Stick your head outside of your vacuum for five minutes and realize there are 110,000 other people in this town that need dug out of the snow and their power restored and their uprooted trees removed as badly as you do.

If it is your opinion that the crews don’t do a good enough job clearing the snow and ice from the streets, I’m not telling you you’re wrong per se. That’s certainly your right to believe that. I’m simply telling you you’re stupid unrealistic.

Bravo and a HUGE thank you to the SPD, SFD, and the Public Works for everything you do to help keep us safe. Screw all these ungrateful bastards who expect instant gratification and then question and/or bitch about the manner in which you do what you do. THIS lowly citizen of Springfield appreciates your efforts on behalf of all of this town.

Even those that live in their own little bubble.